The Melody of Souls
by Rahheemme
Summary: A new pony in town must discover the secret of his existence by finding a mysterious book within the abandoned Everfree Library. Inspired by Sandman and Grant Morrison's Animal Man.
1. Chapter 1

[_Author's Note: Thanks for checking out my story, whoever you are. Just wanted to get a quick word in edgewise. I know that the OC/Self-insert story has been done to death and back, but I think that you'll find that _The Melody of Souls_ does things a bit differently. Stick with it and I promise it'll be a unique experience. Reviews are greatly, GREATLY appreciated. Enjoy!_]

The first thing Will saw once he opened his eyes was a bright, blue sky. Clouds drifted aimlessly across the horizon and the tops of surrounding trees sat on the threshold of his vision. His first, groggy thought was, _Wow, this is a really pretty day_, before promptly closing his eyes and falling back asleep. An hour later, he opened his eyes again. Another, more pressing, question bubbled up from the sleepy dregs of his subconscious.

_Why am I outside_?

There's nothing quite like waking up to an unfamiliar sight above you. Of the times this had happened to Will, this was the most surprising by a wide margin. He stretched instinctively, finding himself on his back. Something was wrong, however. It felt as if he had slept in a strange position, but now couldn't get out of it. He wiggled impotently, trying in vain to pop his legs back into socket or alleviate the mid-night cramp that had rendered his elbows and knees useless. He instinctively flexed his fingers, only to find that he didn't have any.

At this, Will sat up. Or, at least, he tried to. He sprung up to a sitting position, but the ensuing vertigo and skewed center of gravity sent him falling face-first into the ground again. He pushed himself off the ground and found that it was oddly comfortable to stay on his hands and knees. Or, what he was quick to discover, his back and front legs.

He could only stand awkwardly in the pastel clearing with no fear, no panic, and no emotion save for a deep, all-encompassing confusion the likes of which Will had never known. His hands and feet had become hooves. His arms had become legs and his legs had become...different legs. A new muscle twitched on his backside in what he assumed to be a tail. He refused to turn around and check out of concern of inducing a psychotic episode.

The bushes to the right of him rustled. He jerked his head toward the sound, realizing at the same time that his head now weighed what felt like 15 pounds heavier than it did last night. He staggered against the movement. Tripping over his second set of legs, he fell back down to the ground in a heap.

Out of the bushes came a small horse. This would have been a bizarre occurrence on its own had the horse not been _purple_. It stopped in front of Will's side-ways vision and bent down. In his confusion, Will casually noted that this was not a horse, but a unicorn.

"Uhm...Are you okay?" The unicorn said.

A talking purple unicorn with a female voice.

"I...have no idea." Will managed to squeak. His mouth and throat still functioned the same as before and his voice remained unchanged. He was thankful for that, at least.

"Why are you lying down in this field?" The unicorn said again.

"I..._really _have no idea."

"Doooo...you need some help?"

"...Probably."

"Well...Alright." The unicorn set down a saddlebag full of books. What a unicorn needed _books _for was a question Will decided to think about later. "My name's Twilight Sparkle. What's yours?"

"You have two names?"

"Nope. Just one."

"A first and last name?"

"No...That's my whole name. You can just call me Twilight."

"...I'm Will...I think."

"You think?"

"Well, I woke up today in an unexpected place, at an unexpected time, and in an unexpected _body_, so I wouldn't be surprised if my _name_ was something unexpected as well."

"Unexpected bod- Nevermind." The unicorn's horn began to glow. Will felt warm air press against him from all sides, somehow including the ground. He levitated off the ground a good few feet, rotated clockwise in the air, and was set down on his own four feet.

"Well...Okay." He said.

"Okay what?" asked Twilight Sparkle.

"I have either completely lost my ability to distinguish fantasy from reality or I am tripping to the _moon_ and back. What did I eat last? I ate ramen noodles last. I made them myself. Could there have been anything in them? Probably not. Could they have gone bad? When your food of choice has the natural consistency of Styrofoam, there's not much more _bad_ that in can go."

Will began to laugh, but was still thinking about ramen noodles. He forgot that he was laughing and managed to laugh even harder. He thought _Why am I breathing so erratically? _Then he remembered he was laughing and stopped.

The purple unicorn was watching him with a look of confusion that perfectly mirrored his own.

"...I need some help, if you're not busy."

"Oh, of course! What do you need?"

"...Where am I?"

"You're in Ponyville, of course!"

"Well...great...where is _that_?"

Twilight pointed with her hoof over Will's shoulder.

"Over there."

Taking small, deliberate steps with each foot, Will managed to turn 90 degrees to his left, just enough to get a look at the bustling town behind him. Small horses of every color in the spectrum trotted back and forth, in and out of shops. The sight wasn't so much colorful as it was the lovechild between a color wheel and a Van Gogh painting. Some of the horses turned their heads toward him in curiosity as they went their separate ways. A pink one with what looked an afro rode by in a wagon with no driver. It waved excitedly at Twilight as the wagon somehow to an extremely sharp corner with seemingly no direction. And yet, while each sight was a fantastic and unique in its own way, the sight struck Will with a strange sense of _deja vu_.

He turned back to Twilight. She waved back at the pink horse and giggled. She saw Will watching her and dropped her leg.

"That was...uh...friend...Anyway, how did you get here? Where are you from?"

"Columbia, capital city of South Carolina."

"Oh...Is...that on the outer borders?"

"Yes. _Very_ outer borders."

There was an awkward silence between the two. Twilight absentmindedly kicked the dirt. Will looked over his shoulder to get a second glance at what she had called 'Ponyville.'

" So...everyone here is...horses."

"_Ponies_." Twilight corrected in a lecturing tone. "We're ponies. And _you're_ a pony. Listen, I'm worried about you. Did you hit your head on something when you woke up? Eat some bad apples?"

The warm air gripped Will's eyelids again and pulled them wide open. Twilight looked him intently in his eye, then did the same with the other. His tongue was pulled out of his mouth and examined as well as top of his head.

"I'm fine...I think." Will managed to mumble under the examination.

"_That's_ not very reassuring." Twilight said as she checked under his hair (that Will was avoiding calling 'mane' as long as possible).

"Wait...Let...me explain." He gently pushed Twilight away from him and sighed. "I...am not from here."

"That's a little more than obvious."

"I'm not from this...reality. Land. Universe. I don't know. Point is, until I woke up this morning, I was not a pony. I was a human. With human legs and human hands and human feet in a human world."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What's a human?"

"You...Crap. Uh...a human is...uhm..." Will tapped his chin in thought. He was struck by the novelty of being able to reach his chin with his leg and was distracted moving it about and seeing what other parts of his head he could touch. It was enough of them.

"Uhh, hello?" Twilight said, snapping him back. "What's a human?"

"Okay...do you have monkeys here?"

"No."

"Okay, not _have_ them, but do you know what they are?"

"Oh, yeah. Though only from books and pictures."

"Okay, well...a human is like a really, really tall monkey with no hair."

"...Oohhh...I see..." Twilight said unconvincingly.

"You don't believe me." Will said flatly.

"With the kind of stuff that goes on around here...I don't doubt you're telling the truth, but...it's reasonable that my first thought is just going to be that you're crazy, right?"

"Yeah, I guess I can't argue with that." Will said, nodding. "I'm _not_ crazy, though."

"That doesn't help much either."

"Okay, fine. Maybe I _am_ crazy. That doesn't change the fact that I have no idea where I am and how I got here."

"_I _can help with that!" Twilight said, excitedly. He levitated her saddlebags onto her back and began to walk past him. "I had to run some errands in town today, so it wouldn't be any trouble showing you around! We love visitors, wherever you may be from."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Will turned to follow her. He stepped forward, but his foot collided with his front leg. He froze and brought slowly back to its starting position. He tried walking forward with only his front legs, but that only brought him into a precarious position of moving like a caterpillar by bringing his back legs wiggling up to his front.

He looked up bashfully at Twilight, who was watching him with a raised eyebrow.

"Uhm..." She said.

"I got it." Will sighed and decided to take it as logically as possible. Moving clockwise, he numbered his new hooves: 1 for top left, 2 for top right, 3 for bottom right, 4 for bottom left. He moved 1, then followed with 3, then followed with 2, then followed with 4. He found himself moving forward at a baby's pace, but his face hadn't hit the ground yet. Progress was progress, after all. After a few awkward minutes, he was able to train himself to move comfortably at a slow trot.

"Okay!" Will said with sense of accomplishment. "Let's go!"

Twilight smiled and turned to walk. She stopped and did a double-take, looking at Will's side.

"You don't have a cutie mark!"

"...With a name like that, that sounds like a good thing."

"No, look." She turned and moved her saddlebag out of the way, showing a light purple star printed on her side. "This is a cutie mark. You get it when you discover your purpose or passion in life. You look about my age so not having it..." She frowned and furrowed her eyebrows in thought. After a moment, she sighed. "Well, we can worry about that later. In any case, I'm about to be late. Follow me."


	2. Chapter 2

Will had a hard time keeping his balance on his new legs, keeping up with Twilight, and taking in the bizarre, anachronistic town around him. It looked to be as functional as any other small town, but there didn't seem to be much electricity, or at least not much of a use for it. Every resource had been created by and with the intention to be used by a race of beings with no hands. Doors had no latches and could be pushed open from either side. Water pumps had foot pedals instead of hand cranks. Every item with a handle was padded with rubber so not to hurt teeth. It was a society built and maintained by a race of creatures completely different than his own. Once the culture shock had passed, Will found himself fascinated by every tiny detail and was eager to see more.

Twilight stopped every so often to talk to other ponies, giving Will a chance to look around. Ponyville had a strange layout, so he made sure not to stray too far from her in case he would get lost. As they wandered, she would point out notable ponies and explain the buildings with more unusual architecture.

"The tower with the lighting rod over there is the Pegasi Coordination Outpost. From there, we can give direction to the pegasi that need to change the weather." Twilight explained.

"Pegasi? As in...a pegasus? A flying hor-pony?"

"That's right. There's three kinds of ponies around here. Earth ponies like you, Unicorns like me and the friend we're going to see next, and Pegasus ponies like my friend Rainbow Dash." Twilight glanced up at the empty sky. "Who was _supposed_ to keep today partly-cloudy."

"What makes that his fault?"

"Her. And the pegasi control the weather around here. But she probably fell asleep on a cloud somewhere." Twilight said offhandedly. Will paused a moment, struck by the absurdity of the sentence. He shook it off and caught up to Twilight.

"Okay...You mentioned something about outer borders earlier. Is Ponyville some kind of city-state?" He asked, isolating one of the many questions swirling around his head.

"No, it's only a small town. This is the land of Equestria."

"Equestria? Like 'equine?' Clever"

Twilight stopped, tapping her hoof on her chin. "Huh. I actually never realized that! Wow! You learn something new every day, I guess!"

As the two turned a corner, they crossed paths with an orange pony in a cowboy hat, pulling a cart of apples. She waved as Twilight approached, setting down the cart.

"Hey there, Twahlight!" She said in a southern drawl. Will found it quietly comforting to hear. It reminded him of home and brought a much-needed sense of familiarity. "Who's your friend?"

"Good afternoon, Applejack!" Twilight said. "This is Will. He's new in town and I'm giving him a quick tour." She turned to him. "This is my friend Applejack. She runs the apple orchard just outside of town."

"Apples? No kidding. I wouldn't have guessed." Will said in a deadpan tone.

"Family tradition. Apples kinda run mah life, nowadays." Applejack held out a hoof and smiled warmly. "Anywho, pleasure to meetcha, Will!"

He hesitated, looking at her hoof. Glancing at his own, he tentatively brought it up and gave Applejack a soft 'clunk' as they met.

"Likewise." He said, smiling. Impending insanity was no excuse not to be civil.

Applejack turned to Twilight. "Can Ah talk to you fer a minute, Twahlight? ...In private?"

"Uh...sure." Twilight turned to Will. "Just give us a minute."

"I'm in no hurry," Will said. He glanced at the cart. "Mind if I have one of these?"

"Help yourself!" Applejack called jovially as she and Twilight walked off.

As soon as they were far enough away, Applejack dropped her smile and looked soberly to Twilight.

"Who in tarnation is _that_ pony?" She asked.

"I just met him this morning. He was passed out in the clearing near the municipal building." Twilight said.

"Then you need to send that pony out to pasture, and _fast._" Applejack was gravely serious.

"What? Why? He's a little odd, I know, but he seems nice enough on his own." She looked over her shoulder. Will was busy struggling with an apple, bracing it between his front legs and awkwardly trying to throw it into his mouth.

"Ah don't know what it is, but he gives me a bad feeling. Ah can't put my hoof on it, but there's somethin' about that colt that just don't sit right."

"Don't be so xenophobic, Applejack. He's new here! He just needs time to get adjusted."

"Ah _ain't _bein' zen-geeno-..._that_. Mah gut tells me he's bad news and I've learned to trust that feelin'."

"Well your gut isn't being very fair! He's eccentric, but he hasn't done anything wrong."

"Pinkie Pie's eccentric. This Will fellah's just...there's just somethin' not right. He ain't stupid or nothin' but...Ah don't know. Maybe you're right. Just do me a favor and keep an eye out, alright?"

Twilight sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll be careful. But you're really judging him too harshly. You two have barely spoken!"

"It's just a feelin', alright? Take it or leave it." Applejack began walking back to the cart with Twilight in tow.

Will had managed to eat half of the apple by simply taking bites from it on the ground. He flipped it over to find the other half covered in dirt. Grumbling, he tried to wipe some of the dust off, but managed only to make it even dirty. He groaned and frustratedly stomped the apple core flat. Looking up, he saw that the girls had come back. Applejack re-set her cart and tipped her hat to him.

"Welp! Ah gotta head on out to the market before Orange Julia sets up her orange stand!" She frowned and her ears flattened against her head. "Ah hate oranges." She grumbled.

"Good luck, then." Will said, smiling. "It was nice to meet you. And thanks for the...half an apple."

"Much obliged! Come on out and see us sometime!" Applejack smiled back and walked off with her cart.

From behind, Twilight eyed Will, studying him.

_He looks just like any other colt around here,_ She thought. _Then again, Applejack's not one to get stand-offish around strangers._

Will spun around, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts. "Where next?" He asked. After watching Applejack, he had realized that he could move his ears. He flopped them wildly on either side of his head.

"Well...I've got to get a book to my friend Rarity, next."

"Another weird name, then. Alright, lead the way!"

"WAAAAIT!" A voice shouted from the sky. Will looked around in confusion, then saw a shadow next to him on the ground. As he looked, it grew bigger by the second.

"What?" He said to himself.

A light blue pony with large wings slammed into the ground next to him, kicking up a cloud of dirt.

"Oh." He said to himself.

"Dash!" Twilight said, running up to the pony. The pegasus sat up, woozy. It was uniformly blue aside from its hair and tail, which were rainbow colored.

"Wh-Whoa..." It said, still swaying back and forth. "Some ride..."

"Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"Everything's...oh man...I can't...sit still...everything's spinning."

"This is my friend, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said to Will.

"_Rainbow_ Dash? I'm sensing a theme among your friends."

"There's a water pump behind this building. Go get some water." Twilight turned back to help Dash to her feet.

"On it." Will said, running off.

As soon as he had moved out of sight, Rainbow Dash shook her head and sat up straight.

"Hey!" She jumped into the air and began flapping her wings. She hovered off the ground and flew a small circle above Twilight. "_There_ we go! Perfect as always!"

"What happened?" asked Twilight.

"I don't know! I came down here to say what's up, but as soon as I looked at that other pony I got dizzy and couldn't fly straight." Dash touched down in front of Twilight. "Who was he, anyway?"

"Just somepony I met today. Listen, are you positive you're alright? It seems a lot of people are having problems today."

"I'm _fine_, Twilight! I guess I just took a loop too fast or somethin'. I'm tougher than that, y'know!"

"Well...if you say so..."

Will rounded the building, awkwardly carrying a sloshing bucket of water in his mouth.

"Okay! I've got the-" He realized suddenly that his mouth was empty as the bucket fell to the ground, water pouring out. "Ah, crap."

As soon as he had come into sight, Dash suddenly began leaning wildly to the side and fell over.

"Ah! Darn it! It's-rrgh- happening again!"

"What? You were fine a minute ago!" Twilight said.

"Do me a favor, willya?" Dash managed to mutter. "Could you tell me which way is up?"

Twilight glanced at Will, who was picking up the mostly empty bucket and bringing over what was left.

"Will! Hang on! Go back to the water pump!"

"Why?" Will responded, dropping the bucket again. He groaned and picked it back up. "Okay! Whatever!" He trotted behind the building again. As he did, Dash stopped shaking and stood up.

"There! Toldja I could shake it off!"

"Dash? What happened when you looked at Will?"

"That colt?" Dash asked, turning to look where Will had been earlier. "I don't know. I just got really dizzy. Couldn't fly straight."

"That doesn't make sense...It seems that being around him destabilizes your internal compass. I mean, since when do _you_ get vertigo?"

"Never!" Dash said, proudly.

"That was a rhetorical question, Rainbow." Twilight tapped her foot against the ground. "There's something very weird about that pony. Applejack noticed it, too. She was right. I want to keep a close eye on him. You sure you're okay?"

"Always!"

"Good. Just...if you see me with that pony, stay away. I don't know what's going on, but we at least know it can't be good for you."

"Jeeze, if you say so. But I think you're making too big a deal out of this. Later!" With a lunge, Rainbow Dash shot off into the sky, followed by a contrail of colors.

Meanwhile, behind the building, Will sat next to the pump, absentmindedly spilling water over the ground while he thought.

_There's something suspicious going on_. He thought to himself. _The only pony that seems willing to talk to me is Twilight. The orange one did a little, but even she finished the conversation a bit too fast. _He sighed. _Then again, what do _I _know? I've only been a pony for less than an hour. For all I know, these creatures only talk one-on-one as a cultural ritual. It'd make sense to me._

Will looked up as Twilight rounded the corner. She smiled.

"Alright! I think I've got Rainbow Dash all fixed up!"

"But...she didn't even get any water..."

"Turns out she...just took a loop too fast and lost her sense of direction."

"She slammed head-first into the ground at what looked like forty miles per hour."

"Uh...well, she's tougher than she looks. She was fine. Now let's get going! I'm already late! I can't make the situation any worse!"

Will stood up and followed Twilight as she bounded off to the main road.

_Seeds of doubt have been sown._

_Shut up_, he told his brain.


	3. Chapter 3

"That over there is the observatory!" Twilight said, excitedly, pointing to another tower. "There aren't any other astronomers in Ponyville, so I get to spend hours up there without anyone ever bothering me!" After a response of silence, she looked over her shoulder to find Will stopped, staring off to the side.

"That building..." He said, half to himself. "Is...is that _chocolate_ on the roof?"

He was looking at a large building covered in candy. Whipped cream topped every corner of the roof and the tiling looked to be made of cookies.

"Oh! That's Sugarcube Corner, the bakery."

"Looks more like a candy store to me."

"They make sweets as well."

"...So...just _how_ late are you?"

"_Too _late." Twilight said. Will felt himself surrounded by the warm air again. He suddenly found himself dragging against the ground, kicking dirt onto himself.

"Okay! Alright! I'm coming!" He began walking and Twilight's spell subsided. She giggled, quietly.

"HEY! TWILIGHT!" A shrill voice shouted from nowhere in particular. Twilight put a hoof to her face and sighed.

"Oh no...not now..."

The pink pony from earlier rode up beside them in her wagon. It slowed to a stop and, after a pause, collapsed to the ground as the wheels fell off. The pony giggled.

"Oops! Guess I shouldn't have made a wagon out of Graham crackers! Back to the drawing board, I guess. Or the _eating_ board! Whichever comes first!" She laughed again.

"Will, meet Pinkie Pie, the greatest time waster in town. Well, besides a good book, of course."

"Hee hee! Thanks Twilight! I think..." She looked around, spinning in place. "So what does your imaginary friend look like! Can I see him!" Pinkie did a little dance for absolutely no reason at all.

"Imagin-what?" Twilight asked.

"Your imaginary friend! Who you were just talking to!"

"Oh! No, I was talking to my new friend Will here." She stopped and gestured. Will smiled in response. Pinkie squinted at him, sticking her tongue out and tilting her head side-to-side.

"You mean that blurry spot there? Is _that _your imaginary friend? Boy Twilight, you don't have a very fun imagination."

"No, Pink-"

"You could have made him into a big purple monster! Or he could be _super_ tall and play basketball!"

"What do you mean you can't-"

"Or even be _kuh-raazy_ about it and make him a blue blob! And name him _BLUE!_"

"_Pinkie Pie!_" Twilight shouted. She sighed, bringing her voice down in volume. "What do you mean 'blurry spot?'"

"I said that your imaginary friend just looks like an orange shape. And just a _shape_ isn't a very interesting imaginary friend, if you ask me." Pinkie's eyes suddenly grew wide. "_Or maybe_," she gasped, "_maybe it's the _best_ idea_! I have to go draw something! See you later Twilight!"

Pinkie jumped over Twilight for no reason and ran as fast as she could through the front doors of Sugarcube Corner. Will and Twilight exchanged confused glances at each other. She gave an embarrassed grin.

"Well...uh..heh...that's just...uh...Pinkie Pie being herself, I guess!"

"Unless the girl hit her head when she was a baby, I don't think eccentricity is an excuse for just not _seeing _someone."

"Pinkie...just lives in her own little world sometimes. You'll probably meet her properly later on."

Will followed Twilight, but was still unconvinced. He knew weird people. Sometimes, one of them was himself. Unless this Pinkie Pie character was playing some kind of game or severely mentally disabled, he couldn't quite understand how she couldn't even _see_ him.

They eventually made it to a large white building, elegantly designed and decorated in a vaguely Victorian fashion. Twilight sighed and knocked on the door.

"_Finally_," she moaned. The door flew open to reveal a white unicorn, unmistakeably female.

"Yes!" She shouted, upon seeing Twilight.

"...No!" Will shouted, breaking the momentary silence. The unicorn ignored him and pulled Twilight inside. He followed after them through the doorway.

Surprisingly, the building's foyer was a design studio. Dress schematics and sketches littered the floor and multicolored clothing was draped over pony-shaped mannequins. Materials of every color and shade hung from the ceiling like curtains and there was a mirror everywhere he looked. However, something was off about them...

"Oh, thank_ heaven_s you got here when you did, Twilight! I was _just_ struck with inspiration the exact _moment_ you knocked on the door!" The unicorn's horn began to glow. The books flew out of Twilight's saddlebags and sorted themselves in the air.

_Hm, _Will thought to himself, _so the unicorns can use magic. Seems obvious to me. I wonder if there's a hierarchy between the pony types. Or maybe even racism? This whole universe operates like everything is made of sugar and lollypops. Do the ponies understand was racism _is_?_

"Perfect!" The unicorn shouted, holding aloft a green book while letting the others fall to the ground. It floated next to her side and began flipping through pages. "Thank you _so_ much, dear. I was just commissioned to create a line of tuxedos and stallion-wear for a show in Manehattan and I wanted to use this for reference."

"You've moved on from dresses?" Twilight asked.

"For the moment, darling." The unicorn said. She spoke in a fashion that reminded him of a cross between Scarlet O'Hara from _Gone with the Wind_ and Norma Desmond from _Sunset Boulevard. _"One mustn't be afraid to approach a challenge."

"I want to introduce you to my new friend, Rarity. This is-"

The unicorn, apparently named Rarity, gasped as she saw Will. She darted toward him, leaping over the mess on the ground.

"And you brought a _stallion_ with you! Marvelous!" Rarity tossed her mane over her shoulder. "My name is Rarity, darling. I'm Ponyville's premier dressmaker and designer."

"Uhm...charmed." Will said, trying and failing to match Rarity's regal style of speech. "I'm Will."

"A pleasure to meet you, William! Would you be a dear and help me out with a little design I've been working on?"

"Oh...I...sur-"

"Wonderful! Just step over here please!"

Will felt himself surrounded by a new sensation as Rarity's horn began to glow. It felt distinctly different from Twilight's aura. Like a cool mist against his body. He was lifted a few inches from the ground and set on a slightly elevated platform.

"Now just hold still! This will only take a moment!"

He had no trouble holding still as scissors, needles, and razors flew through the air, mere inches from his head. He found himself trapped by a flurry of fabric and material and felt himself being sewn inside of some kind of suit. Somewhere, a comb was being dragged through his mane a little too roughly than was necessary.

In a quick instant, the chaos stopped and Will was spun around to face a wall of mirrors to see...

"What do you think, darling! It's a new design of my own creation! It should be the rave of Canterlot by next month!"

"I...uh..." Will turned his head from side to side, trying to catch a better angle on the mirrors.

"Don't be shy, dear!" Rarity turned to Twilight. "Oh, it's adorable how all the stallions suddenly find themselves at a loss whenever they need to describe the way they should _dress_. What do _you_ think, deary?"

"Oh! I..." Twilight was paying closer attention to Will as he moved awkwardly back and forth in front of the mirror with a confused look on his face. "Well...It's certainly...fancy..."

"_All_ my designs are 'fancy,' dear. What _strikes you _about the ensemble?"

"It...makes him look...clean."

"...Clean?"

"I mean...sleek!"

"Hmm..." Rarity turned back to look at Will, tapping her chin. "Thank you for saying so, Twilight, but I just don't think this works the way I thought it would. I believe your friend simply doesn't have the build that I was quite looking for."

Rarity's horn lit up again. In a flurry of movement, the clothes were disassembled and pulled off of Will. He wobbled a moment before shaking his head and turning back to look into the mirror.

"If you'd be willing to stay a little while longer, I'm sure I could whip up something truly spectacular for the boy!"

"Uh...no, that's alright, Rarity. I'm actually giving Will a tour of the town. I want to make sure I cover everything." Twilight's horn glowed. Will was levitated off the ground. He kicked his legs in helplessly in the air for a moment, then sighed in resignation. "I'd better get going on that! Bye!" She moved to the door, carrying the colt in the air next to her.

Rarity sighed. "Good-bye then, Twilight! And thank you for the book!"

When Twilight was far enough away from Rarity's home, she turned to Will, still floating in the air.

"What did you see in the mirror?" She asked.

"Y'know, I'm starting to get used to this," Will said, kicking his legs, "and I'm not sure that's a good thing."

Twilight released him and he dropped to the ground. To his surprise, he landed on his feet. _Four times the balance_, he thought.

"I saw the way you looked at the mirror. Something's strange about you, Will. I don't know what it is, but some of my other friends have noticed it too."

"I told you already. I'm from another universe. I'm not a pony."

"I think now I'm starting to believe you. What did you see in the mirror?"

"Well...nothing."

"Nothing out of the ordinary?"

"No, I mean...nothing. At all." Will said. "I don't have a reflection."

Twilight paused, her mouth open.

"You...that's not...Hold on."

She closed her eyes and summoned a small hand mirror. Will jumped as it appeared.

"Whoa! Hang on! Did _you_ make that?"

"Yes...it's magic."

"But..._How!_ You can't just _create_ matter! You..._That's impossible_! How does that even work!"

Will stopped and sighed, closing his eyes.

"Okay...Nevermind...New universe, new rules. If I get hung up on stuff like this, I might _really_ go crazy."

Twilight hovered the mirror in front of Will's face and looked. Sure enough, only the mare herself appeared in frame. She moved it around, making sure that it was angled right. After a minute, she was satisfied. Somehow, some way, Will didn't cast a reflection.

"This doesn't make any sense!" She said. The mirror disappeared in a flash of light. Will jumped at this too. He began to say something, but then shook his head and clocked himself with his hoof.

"New rules...new rules..." He muttered.

"I'm standing here talking to you! I can _see _you! That means the light is bouncing off you! And that means you should have a reflection! _Why don't you have one!_" Twilight shouted, almost angry at how little sense was being made.

"That's what _I'm _trying to find out as much as _you_!" Will shouted in return.

"This has become far too strange for me to ignore. Come with me. We're going back to my place." Twilight turned to walk away.

"Why? What's at your place?" Will asked.

Twilight turned and stomped her foot powerfully on the ground. She stood strong and proud, looking dramatically up into the sky.

"Books!"


	4. Chapter 4

"...You live in a tree?"

"Yep! The Ponyville Town Library, too!"

"You're a librarian? Sounds... _reeeal_ fun..."

"I know! And it is!"

The two stood in front of a huge oak tree with a door and windows set in the wood. The upper branches held platforms and patios where an assortment of items were scattered.

"I can think of a few logistical concerns to living inside of a hollowed out tree. One of them being...you're living inside of a _tree_."

"It's been around for years now, Will. It's a very sturdy tree." Twilight pushed open the door. Inside was a large room made from the hollowed tree. Shelves of books were set into the walls and a large stump in the middle of the room was used as a table. All of the wood was worn down from years of use, so there was no danger of splinters. Up a small flight of stairs, Will could just barely make out a bedframe where he assumed Twilight's room was.

_Hang on, _he thought, _she's a horse. Everyone's a horse. Why do beds even exist?_

"Oh Spiike! Are you home!" She called.

"Just a minute!" Called out a male voice. The first one Will had heard all day, for some reason.

A large stack of books and papers emerged from a side room, being supported by a stubby pair of legs.

"Just...okay...hang on...I got it...No...yes...no... no...no...No!...Okay, I got it."

"We can deal with that later, Spike. I need you to help me find all the books you can on..."

The legs started to shake and collapsed under the stack of books. A small, purple hand stuck out from the pile.

"Um...Help?"

Twilight sighed and levitated the books into the air.

"Spike, this is Will. I met him in town today and he has a problem that I'd like to study more thoroughly."

A small, stubby figure, standing on two legs, clambered out of the mess on the floor and brushed himself off. The figure was a two-foot-tall purple lizard, giving Will immediate flashbacks to _Barney the Dinosaur_.

"Nice to meetcha, Will! Sorry about the me-" The lizard stood up straight and looked at him. As soon as he and Will made eye contact, Spike's vertical pupils suddenly contracted to slivers. His friendly demeanor collapsed and he dropped to his haunches. He turned and climbed up the wall, cutting into the wood with his sharp claws and hissed like a snake. His long tongue flitted out of his mouth and he bared his fangs.

"Spike!" Twilight yelled. Spike seemed to be ignoring her and was transfixed on Will, spitting small tongues of flame as he growled.

"What is _that_!" Will shouted. Twilight ran up to him and roughly shoved him through the doorway, knocking him to the ground.

"Sorry!" she said before slamming the door in his face.

Inside, Twilight whirled around and ran to Spike, who was still clinging to the wall.

"Spike! Are you alright!"

The dragon shook his head and blinked himself back to lucidity.

"Wh-What? What happened?" He said. He pulled his hands away from the wall and found that most of his claws were stuck into the wood. He jerked them out and fell to the ground, on top of the books he had dropped.

"You started hissing and tried to crawl up the wall. I've never seen you like that!"

"I...I did?" Spike rubbed his head. "I don't remember. Everything went fuzzy as soon as I saw your friend. I remember I got _really_ scared, though." He shuddered and clutched his knees. "Jeeze...I don't remember ever being so scared in my whole life..."

"Are you feeling any better?" Twilight asked, instinctively checking his temperature. Spike groaned in embarrassment and pushed her foot away.

"I'm okay now, Twilight."

"Okay...Just wait here..." Twilight began to walk to the door. Spike stood up alarmed.

"W-Wait!" He shouted. She stopped and turned around. Spike began wringing his tail in his hands. "You-You're n-not going to b-bring him back in here are you?"

"No, I don't think that would be such a good idea. I'll make sure he stays away."

"Okay...Thank you, Twilight."

Twilight smiled. "You're welcome."

Outside, Will was busy looking at an owl perched on a low-hanging branch.

"Who." It said.

"That's a good question." He responded. "Knock knock."

"Who."

"Who."

"Who who."

"...I can't think of a punchline. Forget it."

"Who."

"Who's on second?"

"Who."

"No, Who's on first. I'm asking who's on second?"

"Who."

"I don't know, I'm asking you."

"Uh...What are you doing?"

Will turned to see Twilight staring at him.

"Oh...Nothing."

"Listen, my assistant Spike had some kind of panic attack as soon as he saw you." Twilight explained. "I don't think it would be a very good idea for you to come inside. At least, not with him around."

"I understand." Will said. "So...what is he?"

"A dragon."

Will's eyes widened. "...A dragon? You have dragons here?"

"You don't?"

"They're fictional in my world." Will turned away and started tapping his hoof. "So... we have dragons, talking ponies, pegasi, and unicorns who can use magic. I think it would be easier on my fragile little brain if I started thinking everything in the context of a fantasy setting. At least then I'll have some kind of basis of understanding."

"Uh...I guess?"

"Sorry, just thinking out loud. What what do you want me to do?"

"Well...I don't want you too far away but I don't want you anywhere near Spike. Could you wait out here until I find the books I need?"

"I'd rather not. How about I take a look around Ponyville while you're working? I'd like some time on my own and the one house in town carved out of a tree shouldn't be hard to keep track of."

"Hm...Okay, just don't go too far. Your presence here is causing some kind of disturbance. I'd rather not make things any worse."

"I'll make sure not to talk to anyone, if that helps." Will said, beginning to walk away.

"Alright, but if you see anything out of the ordinary, come back here as soon as you can."

"'Out of the ordinary' is gradually turning out to be my entire life."

"You know what I mean." Twilight said.

"Fair enough. Will do." Will gave her a half-hearted salute before walking off.

Twilight came back inside to find Spike picking up the stack of books he dropped.

"We can sort those later. I need your help finding a few books."

Spike rolled his eyes. "No kidding?" He sighed and picked up a few from the pile on the ground. "Okaaayyy...we've got an advanced unicorn magic guide right here, a rundown of the Elements of Harmony written by...you...a history of natural disasters in Equestria...any of these float your boat?"

"No, I need you to find any books we have on physics."

Spike dropped the books and raised an eyebrow. "Physics?"

"Yes. Particularly ones about dimensions and parallel realities."

"Uhh...Okay." Spike said apprehensively, climbing the nearest ladder. "That's sort of specific, isn't it?"

"I know," Twilight said, levitating a stack of books from the nearest shelf. "ut if my hypothesis is correct, Equestria could be on the verge of a catastrophic disaster!"


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile, Will took to wandering the streets of this strange little town. Solitude was exactly what he needed. From this perspective, Ponyville came to him as a technicolor cornucopia of experience. Everything, and absolutely _everything,_ was new to him. Still marveling at the little differences that probably slipped by most ponies. There were no stairs. Every building entrance was preceded by ramps, notched for footholds. Many of the ponies paradoxically wore saddles and girdles, but they were extremely elaborate and made of cloth and fabrics. No butchers, as was to be expected. All the restaurants served vegetarian meals of hay, grass, flowers, and fruits.

Aside from a few bakeries, that seemed to be the extent of the pony diet. This gave way to a number of eclectic and surreal stores in their place. There was a store that sold hats with a line of ponies extending well outside the door. There was only one toy store, but it was three stories high and took up the space of two other buildings. There was an old pony at a small stand selling pinwheels. Only pinwheels. His cash jar was nearly overflowing.

Will eventually wandered into the market square. A number of ponies had set up booths and stands and sold various wares, most of them specialty fruits and vegetables that couldn't be grown in town. Beets, onions, grapes, peaches, and a number of others he didn't recognize were scattered across the various tables. From across the square, Will caught a glimpse of Twilight's farmer friend Applejack. She was passing out apples to a healthy line of ponies. As a mare walked out of the way, the two locked eyes. Applejack nervously smiled and waved, but quickly averted her eyes to the nearest customer. She seemed more anxious, fumbling with bags of apples and dropping coins on the ground when she wasn't paying attention.

As he walked around, Will had noticed that many of the residents acted strangely around him. Some of them looked at the ground as they passed and moved quickly out of his way. A few of them stopped dead in their tracks if he glanced at them. Once, after passing two ponies on the street, overheard them talking about the electric chill that shot up their spines.

He came near a yellow pegasus, walking on the ground for some reason, who was carrying a family of squirrels on her back for an equally baffling reason. Nearing them, the squirrels began to panic and darted off away from him as fast as they could.

"No! Come back! It's alright!" Said the pegasus, trying in vain to call them back.

"Oh no...I...crap, I'm sorry..." Will said.

"Oh no, It's not your fault," the pony said, quietly. "Squirrels can get very-v-very-v-"

She turned to look at him and her eyes went wide, demure smile fading. She sunk down a few inches and began to whimper quietly, staring at him. A few ponies stopped to look.

"You alright?" One of them said to the pegasus. She whimpered in response, still not breaking contact with Will. He saw that other ponies were starting to stare at _him_ now, so he muttered another apology and walked off, head to the ground and tail between his legs.

_I don't think this was a good idea. _He thought. _If Twilight's right, then being in Equestria must be some kind of mistake. If I'm spreading something, I could end up as some kind of meta-physical Typhoid Mary. It's not making me the most popular guy in town, either._

Will turned around on his way back to Twilight's tree before something caught his eye.

A small building sitting at the end of a row of houses. Unlike the others, this one seemed to be abandoned, both by the surrounding ponies and by inhabitants. Decrepit and sepia-toned, Will would have thought it was too had it not been for the faint light coming from a small window.

He was possessed with an intense, all-consuming urge to enter. Will began trotting to the entrance before he even realized he was moving.

_Wait, _he thought, forcing his legs to stop, _I have to get back to Twilight. What...I want to go inside but...why?_

He turned around and began to walk away. Will tended to tap his feet when he was nervous. With four legs, the compulsive bouncing was almost enough to make him dizzy. He stopped again and spun around to face the run-down shop. He spun around to face away. He spun around again to face it. He stopped in the middle and began grinding his teeth together, his hoof quickly thumping against the ground.

With a soft groan, Will walked toward the old building.

There was no writing on the outside. Only a large, broken-in sign with an open book painted on it. However, there was something strange about it. Will stepped toward it to look more closely at the faded picture. In the crease of the spine, barely obscured by turning pages, was an eye. A single, inverted eye set into the middle of the book. He backed away, slightly put off by the macabre sight, but his compulsion to enter was too great to be overcome by such a vague symbol. He plodded carefully up the old ramp before pushing his way inside.

The room was a wreck. Books and papers scattered the floor. Shelves lined the walls, filled with more books in only slightly better condition. Will bumped into one on the floor and it fell apart at his touch. A long-neglected counter sat on the other side, topped by a vase of dead flowers and a wet candle. The room smelled of wood rot and old paper, a smell difficult to imagine but very hard to forget.

Will jumped as a wooden board cracked slightly in the ceiling, sending dust and damp chunks of building material scattering to the ground.

_Wow, this was really stupid_. He told himself. He lifted a leg to turn around, but caught light out of the corner of his eye. The room he saw from the window sat behind a rickety door, hanging just barely by its hinges. Biting his bottom lip until it felt numb, he walked quietly forward (as quietly with hooves, at least) and nudged open the door.

He was met with a surreal sight. The light was coming from a makeshift room in the middle of the empty floor, the walls made of bedsheets and curtains hanging from the ceiling. Numerous candles flickered, diffused by the cloth. There was faint movement behind them. Small, thin silhouettes wiggled, accompanied by the unmistakeable sound of writing on paper. For an instant, Will even thought he heard the faint typing of computer keys.

His eyes adjusting to the light, Will suddenly made out the shadow of a pony, sitting motionless on the floor inside the cube.

"Oh," Will said, silently cursing himself for not shutting his stupid mouth and leaving, "Sorry, I didn't know anyone was here and...I came in to see because...uhm...sorry." He turned quickly around to leave, blushing under his hair.

"Don't leave," I said. Will turned around, puzzled and startled at the same time. My voice was familiar to him, far more than anything he had seen or heard in this strange new world he had awoken to find around him. It was a voice he was almost positive he knew, but who's voice it was eluded him like water in his fingers.

"Why...Why not?" He asked.

"Because I have things to say." I responded.

"To...me?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, but...probably not, but...Do I know you?"

"No," I said, my voice dropping slightly, "and the fact that you don't could spell death and destruction for countless lives."

"Hang on...What?" Will snapped his head up, alert. "Death? Who are you then!"

I said nothing.

"Stop being cryptic. If it can save lives, then you have to help me. Tell me who you are!"

"Do you remember what stories are, Will?" I said. He reeled back, alarmed.

"How do you know my...How do you know me, but I don't know you? That doesn't-"

"Stories are the shadows of dreams." I said. "A dream is immaterial, a fragment, a single melody from the orchestra of the soul. A story is an imperfect copy of a dream; resembling, but never coming quite close enough to match the raw beauty of a dream undefiled."

Will waited for me to finish, confused but spellbound. He paused in the silence, breathing deeply.

"Thats...I don't...What does that have to do with me?"

I remained silent.

"Are people going to die or not!" He was becoming frustrated. With nothing left to say, I said nothing. The scribbling of the pens reached a fever pitch. Will stomped on the ground and blustered in frustration (mentally taking note of the distinct 'horse' sound of it). He walked up to the curtain and threw it open.

It was empty.

The quills and pens scattered to the ground. They had been drawing strange, concentric circles on the wood and writing nonsense words within them. Papers hung on the curtains from the inside. Some of them were blank while some of them had thick scribble marks on them. It seemed to be some form of language, but nothing Will could make out.

Unsatisfied and mildly afraid, he reluctantly backed out of the square, letting the curtain fall back into place.

He walked back to the front door. He wanted to explore the building; look for clues to the disappearance to its enigmatic inhabitant. However, the floor was falling in with numerous potholes and the stairs seemed rickety enough that caving them in on the first step was the _best_ case scenario. So he turned to the door and set foot outside.

And stopped dead in his tracks.

Will didn't move, his eyes as wide as plates and transfixed on nothing at all. To him, the entire world had ceased to be. Every thought, every impulse, ever firing neuron of his brain was brought to a screeching halt with the deafening emergence to two, all-consuming thoughts.

_Nosce te ipsum._

_ The Melody of Souls._


	6. Chapter 6

Twilight groaned in frustration as she tapped her hoof against the table she leaned against. The book was old. Normally, this excited her and held her attention much longer than most current volumes, but this was not the kind of topic she had been looking for. It was a dusty, outdated collection of the physical magic of Equestria, nothing to do with science or the theoretical.

She flipped through page after page, speeding through each paragraph, hoping to find something even tangentially related to space-time or relativity. Spike, meanwhile, shuffled through the titles on the shelf, just barely keeping himself awake despite the monotony. He pulled a large, heavy tome from the shelf, thinking it said something about time, but it was titled _Times of Our Lives: A History of the Canterlot Social Scene._ He was about to put it back before he noticed that a small ruby was embedded in the cover. There were indentations where other gemstones had been, but now this was the only one left. Checking to make sure Twilight wasn't looking, he pried the ruby from its socket and popped it in his mouth.

* crunch *

"I'm _trying_ to concentrate!" Twilight suddenly shouted. She was on edge, her hair a tousled mess. "Keep it down!"

Spike froze. He closed his jaws as quietly as he could around the ruby in his mouth.

…...* cruuuuuunccchhh *

Twilight loudly groaned, exasperated, and dropped the book.

"We're not getting anywhere with this library! For once, I wish I was back in Canterlot." Twilight gestured Spike toward a shelf on the opposite side of the room. "Try the philosophy section. The key word is 'multiverse.' I'll keep looking over-"

She was interrupted by a loud, frantic knocking on the door.

"That must be Will. You'd better go in the other room." She said.

"Gotcha..." Spike climbed down from the ladder and walked into a side room. He wrung his tail nervously in his hands and stole glances toward the front door as he left.

Twilight opened the door, slowly. To her alarm, Will quickly shoved his way inside as soon as the door cracked. He paced a small circle in the middle of the room, muttering under his breath. His eyes were wild as he scanned the bookcases and he was panting heavily.

"Will? What's wrong?" Twilight shut the door behind her. She approached him, but stayed a safe distance away from his panicked canter.

"The-_The Melody of Souls_." He finally blurted out. Will ran to the nearest shelf and began scanning the titles, pushing them around to make sure there weren't any hidden in the back."

"_The Melody of Souls_?" Twilight said, confused. "What is that? I don't understand."

"It's a book! We have to find it!"

"Why? What's in it?"

"I don't know. But we have to find it!"

Twilight moved toward him and placed her legs on his back, holding him still.

"Just calm down! I can barely keep up with what you're saying. What happened?"

Will caught his breath, paused, then deeply exhaled. His feet stopped bouncing and he sat down, forcing himself to relax. Twilight let go and fell back to her feet.

"I...was in town, and...I was just walking around town and I saw..." Will turned to look at Twilight. "Is this the only library in town?"

"I'm afraid so. However," she said, her horn glowing as she levitated a book from the top shelf, "I've heard once or twice that there used to be a bookstore here, but that was a little before my time."

She opened the book and scanned the pages, flipping them with magic.

"Here it is!" She said, pointing to a passage. "'Pineal Books.' According to this, it closed down three years before I came to Ponyville."

"You're not from here?" Will asked.

"No, I'm from the capital city, Canterlot."

"What are you doing in Ponyville, then?"

"That's kind of a long story."

Will shrugged. "Fair enough. So...'Pineal Books.' Weird name. Who owned it?"

Twilight read the passage in the book. "A pony named Scribble Scribe...Huh. That sounds familiar, actually..." Twilight set the book on the ground and levitated a number of others into the air. They slowly orbited her head, allowing her to read the titles of each.

"Here it is!" She said, letting the others fall. "_The Trinity of Self, _by Scribble Scribe."

"He's a writer?" Will asked, standing.

"I guess so." She flipped over the book and opened the back cover. "'Other works: _I/O, Hands of Green and Eyes of Black, Our Eyes, Pages, The Universal Lies.' _Yep. He's a writer all right, but I haven't heard of _any_ of these..."

"Does he still live in Ponyville?"

Twilight brought her previous book to her level again. "Nnnnnnnno. It says here that he vanished a little after the store closed. He hasn't been seen since."

"I think I met him in the book store." Will said.

"Huh? But it's been abandoned? Why did you even go inside?"

"I...don't know. I just felt an...urge to. I can't explain it. I met a pony inside, but I couldn't actually see him. He was behind a bunch of bedsheets or something."

"Bedsheets?"

"Yeah, I know. He said some cryptic stuff before vanishing. And I mean that literally. One minute he was there, the next he was gone."

"Well...Teleportation spells aren't unheard of. I know a few myself." Twilight said.

"That'd make sense, but it was a lot creepier at the time. When he was gone, I went outside and I suddenly thought of a book called _The Melody of Souls_. I'm not sure why. Does telepathy exist here? Can unicorns do that?" Will asked.

"Telepathy? What's that?"

"Mental projection of speech and thoughts. Talking with your mind and stuff. Anything like that?"

"Nothing I can think of..."

"That's..._very_ weird then." Will looked off for a moment, thinking. "I just got this really intense feeling that I should find that book as soon as I can. Oh! And there was another thought with it."

"What was it? Can you remember?"

"Barely. 'Nosce te ipsum.' Ring any bells?"

"No," Twilight said, "I'm not very good with other languages. Is that another book?"

"No, it's a phrase. It's a language I recognize from my world, but I don't know what it translates to."

"Maybe that's what _The Melody of Souls_ can help us with. Hold on." Twilight levitated Scribble Scribe's book and walked over to the shelf it came from. She slid it back into place and looked over the area around it. She checked behind the stacks and on higher shelves, but didn't find anything. She ran to a door and stuck her head in.

"Spike," her muffled voice said, "look around in there for anything by a writer named Scribble Scribe...It'll be under 'S'...They're _both _'S's, Spike..." She sighed and pulled her head back out, shutting the door. "Sorry, that's the only Scribble Scribe book here."

"Are you sure?" Will asked, looking at the mountainous shelves surrounding him. "That's..._a lot_ of books to check."

Twilight cocked a single eyebrow and lowered her eyelids.

"Every month, I rotate the order of every book in this library, _manually_, by author, title, genre, length, age, rarity, and condition. I do this for _fun_. I'm a _very_ organized little unicorn, Mr. Will. If I can't find it, it's not here."

"Okay, okay, I'll take your word on it!" Will said. He pointed to the shelf over her shoulder. "Why don't we check the one we have, see if there's any clues to where we can find the others. I mean, it's somewhere to start."

"I guess you're right about that," Twilight said. She levitated the book over to the table and set it open. They both walked to it and began flipping through the pages.

"What is this even about?" He asked.

"I'm not sure...It's not fiction. Some kind of essay. I can't believe I've never read it. In fact..."

Twilight looked up toward a chalkboard in the corner of the room, topped with the words 'TO READ.' She levitated a piece of chalk and wrote the book's title on the board.

"Perfect!" She said happily before turning back to the table. As she flipped through the pages to the table of contents, Will noticed something.

"Wait. Stop!" He said. Twilight complied. "Go back a couple pages." She did. Stuck in between two pages was a wrinkled, brown envelope. It was flattened from being compressed inside the book for so long. Will removed it as gently as he could with his teeth and set it down on the table. Twilight used magic to open it and pull out a folded note. There was writing on the front.

"Will..." Twilight said, quietly, "...this is to _you_."

She was right. Will's name was neatly printed on the front of the folded paper. She opened the note and held it in front of him

He squinted, bit his tongue, tapped his hooves, and turned his head to the side as he attempted to read the letter. But despite his best efforts, the writing remained illegible scribblings, similar to the ones found in Pineal Books.

"It's just nonsense. I can't read it."

Twilight flipped it over and looked at it. She raised an eyebrow.

"What? I can read it just fine."

"Y-You can? Let me see it again."

She brought it closer and they looked over the note together. Will frowned as he found he couldn't make out a single letter.

"Can you read?" Twilight asked.

"I...I _thought _I...I could before, but I don't know why..." He nudged the letter with his nose and it spun around in the air. "I can read my name, though. Why can't I read anything else?" Will looked at Twilight's chalkboard and found that he couldn't make out any discernible letters. In fact, looking at writing of any kind felt more like staring into a candle flame, his eyes watering in protest and trying hard to turn away.

"I...I can't read anything!" Will finally exclaimed. "This doesn't make any sense!" He turned to Twilight. "Is the language we're speaking right now the same one as written in that note?"

She glanced at the paper. "Yes, it is. Like I said, I can read it just fine."

"Then... Then how can I understand everyone around here, but the writing just looks like chicken scratch?"

_Maybe it some kind of telepathic blocking, _Will thought, his brain racing at a mile a minute. _Or maybe the communication here is based on pony physiology. It takes pony ears to hear what they say, but it takes a pony brain to read what they write. But then...do I have a pony _brain_ or a pony _mind_?_

"'Chicken scratch?'" Twilight giggled. "You sound like Applejack. Look, I'll read it."

She cleared her throat and looked at the letter.

"'You are a broken dream, pieces scattered and discarded like ashes set against the wind. There are some things that one can never see until they are gone. This is your paradox. For convenience, look to the forest. It is here that you will find you Fiddler's Green.'"

Twilight looked up from the note, setting it on the table, and frowned.

"'Look to the forest...'" She said to herself.

"Little vague, isn't it? Looks to me that half this country is _made_ of forest." Will said.

"Well...yeah. It is. But remember, Scribble Scribe lived in Ponyville. He might have been talking about the Everfree Forest, on the outskirts of town. But I don't know what 'Fiddler's Green,' means."

"That might just by symbolism." Will said. "My question is what a _book_ is going to be doing in the middle of the woods?"

"It's a weird coincidence, but I've been doing some reading recently on the possible existence of a lost library hidden deep in the Everfree Forest. I was going to get my friends together to help me look for it, but I haven't had the time. And besides, the forest can be very dangerous, and I know at least one pony that wouldn't want to even go _near_ it."

"Sounds like a last resort, then." Will said.

"Maybe not...I'm starting to get worried about what kind of effect somepony...er-some_one_ from another universe could have on Equestria. Like a foreign plant introduced to an ecosystem. I think you're causing a time-space distortion by simply _being here_. The best thing to do would be to get you home as soon as possible."

"So...what do you suggest?" Will asked.

"We head for the Everfree Library before the sun begins to set."


	7. Chapter 7

An hour later, the two stood at the mouth of a dirt path leading into a dense thicket of trees. Will frowned and shifted uncomfortably. Two saddlebags rested on either side of him with a strap hanging over his back. He felt as if it was constantly going to slip off when he walked. He jumped a few times and shook himself, but the bags mostly just bumped against him. They were secure enough.

Twilight sat on the ground beside him, studying a large, old map. Her tongue stuck out of her mouth at an angle as she marked points in the forest with an ink quill.

"When you said we should leave before dark," Will said, "I thought that implied we were in some kind of a _hurry_."

"'Haste makes waste,' as they say." Twilight responded, using a compass to measure distances as she checked references from an old book. "And don't worry so much about the sun. I've had Spike send the Princess a letter explaining our situation and asking her to extend the day by an hour. She..._may_ not be willing to go that far, but it couldn't hurt to ask."

Will was silent. He tapped his foot on the ground. The sheer lack of context for that last sentence ignited a swirling firestorm of confusion within his mind that was nearing a fever pitch.

"Uhm." He finally said, trying to verbalize some of his bewilderment. "What does _any_ of that mean?"

"Oh!" Twilight said. She laughed. "I keep forgetting you're not from around here. Our princess is in charge of magically raising and lowering the sun every day. I'm her protege."

"She's...What, for the whole planet?"

"I assume so, yes."

"So...okay...hang on..." Will wandered a few feet, rubbing his head. "Okay." He said with finality as he looked up. "Magic?"

"Yes. Magic."

"..._Super_."

Twilight stood, sticking the book in her left saddlebag and the map in the right.

"I think I've determined where the ruins of the library will be. We just need to follow this road as best as we can." She said.

"Do we at least have a compass or something?"

"In your bag."

Will arched his neck around and stuck his face in one of the bags on his back.

"Oh. There it is." He pulled his head out and cracked his neck on either side. He jumped in place a few times, limbering up his legs and taking deep breaths. "Okay! Ready!"

They stood in place.

Twilight nervously kicked a clod of dirt.

Will glanced at her.

"Any time..."

"Just give me a minute!" She barked. "Everfree's dangerous! Most of it is unexplored to this day!"

"Then is it really a good idea for just the two of us to go?" Will asked. "Get your friends over here. You guys seem to have a history with this sort of thing."

"I wish I could," Twilight sighed, "but I don't want them exposed to whatever you're giving off for too long. And you didn't even _meet_ Fluttershy. Who knows how she'd have reacted?"

"Well, _you_ seem alright." Will said.

"But for how long? Yes, for whatever reason, nothing strange has happened to me around you. That just means I'm the best to get you back home."

"Alright then! Let's get a move on!" Will started off down the path, running down the slight incline.

"Hey!" Twilight shouted, following after him. "You don't even know where you're going!"

"What does it matter if we don't go at all?"

"I-I just needed planning time, alright! If you'd have given me a few more minutes-"

"I'd have been just in time to give you _more _time after that, wouldn't I?"

Twilight huffed and trotted next to him. They entered the trees in silence. Will glanced back and saw her expression. He paused and bit his bottom lip.

"...Sorry."

Twilight sighed. "No, you're right. I've got a bad habit of overplanning things. But we _really_ need to be careful. Dangerous creatures live here. Our best bet is to slip in, then out, as quietly as possible. Just stick to the path and everything will be fine."

"I'm not worried." Will jumped a little at the sound of a tree branch falling to the underbrush. "Okay, I'm a little worried."

The two ponies walked deeper and deeper into the forest, Twilight checking the map periodically to make sure they were heading in the right direction. Will, meanwhile, was gazing at the sky, watching as the sunlight broke through the leaves. He was reminded of the woods behind his house, out in the country. The trees here were obviously much older, but the feeling was the same. Birds chirping, the occasional rustle of branches as small creatures leapt from tree to tree, dead sticks falling to the ground, and the quiet crunch of leaves and sticks under their feet.

They walked in silence. It had become awkward early in the beginning, but neither Will nor Twilight could think of anything to say. Will thought he saw an interesting stone. He was about to say something before he realized that it was only an old stump. He thought about bringing up his mistake and using it to spark conversation, but realized that would just make everything worse. Twilight thought about asking Will where he was from. In fact, she had been wanting to know more and more about the strange pony from the moment she'd met him. But she didn't know where the line was when it came to personal questions. She didn't want to pry into topics that weren't any of her business. Twilight started thinking about what questions she thought _wouldn't _be too intimate. Twenty minutes in and she had only thought of '_What are some of your favorite hats?_'

Will started thinking of some of the jokes he knew. The only ones he could remember either hinged on knowledge that Equestria wouldn't have or were incredibly offensive and _still_ hinged on things Twilight wouldn't understand. He decided that the silence was killing him and was going to revert back to the social standby '_So where are you from?'_ He already knew, of course, but what else was there to say?

Meanwhile, Twilight became frustrated with worrying about being too forward, decided to say _something_ to break the quiet.

The two ponies turned toward each other.

"?hats that you've worn?" They said, jumbling their sentences together. They stumbled at their mutually failed attempts at communication. "Sorry," they said in unison.

"You first," Will said.

"No, please, you go." Twilight said, now realizing in retrospect what kind of a stupid question she had come up with.

"No, it's alright. It's nothing important."

"Neither is mine."

"...Oh."

"Okay...What were you saying?"

"...I forgot." Will said. "No! Okay. I didn't." He cleared his throat and tried to sound casual. "So, where are-"

He was interrupted by a loud, horrific screeching coming from the sky. They both looked up to see a bald eagle plummeting to the ground, trying in vain to catch itself in the air.

Twilight ran in front of Will, her horn glowing. The eagle stopped shortly before hitting the ground, still twisting and turning, fighting against her magic. She gently lowered the eagle to the ground, but kept it suspended in stasis as it was still thrashing wildly.

"What's wrong with it?" Asked Will in alarm.

"I don't know! I wish Fluttershy were here!"

Will noticed something stuck to the underside of one of the eagle's wings.

"Can you hold it still?" He said to Twilight. "I think I can help it."

"I'll...try..." Twilight closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, concentrating. The purple aura surrounding the bird split into two and wrapped itself around the eagle's wings. Under the right wing was a small object, partially obscured by feathers. As carefully as he could, Will crept closer to the terrified bird. Without any hands to grasp it, he nervously extended his neck toward the object. He kept his right eye closed tight out of fear for the eagle's massive beak. Somehow, he managed to work it out from under its downy feathers with his nose and clasp it between his teeth. Pulling it out, the bird pecked him once, hard, on his eyebrow. He grunted in pain, but backed up without causing any more damage.

"Got it!" Will said, spitting out the object. Twilight sighed and released her hold. The eagle dropped a few feet to the ground. It thrashed around more in fear, before it discovered its wings were working again. It turned and flew off into the sky as fast as it could.

"What is it?" Twilight asked. Will nudged it with his foot. It was an old roll of paper, brown from age and slightly damp from his saliva. It looked to be the same color as...

"No..." Will said to himself. He rolled paper over to find his name printed on the side, in the same style as the first note.

"What!" Twilight exclaimed. She looked at the slowly vanishing bird and back to the note. "That's...How! It couldn't fly _with_ the note, so how did it get there in the _sky!_"

"I have _no_ idea." Will said, He unrolled the scroll and held it open with his hooves. Again, he found the writing illegible. "Read it."

Twilight levitated the note to her eye level and cleared her throat.

"'Existence is not a binary condition. It is not a simple yes or no. It is a state of being with an infinite number of variables as distinctive as consciousness and personality. The determining factor is that those that exist must be aware of their own existence and of its unique shape and form."

"Is that it?" Will said.

"Yes."

"No clues?"

"I'm afraid not. At least, none as obvious as last time." Twilight said. She folded the note and put it in her saddlebag.

"Is it by Scribble Scribe again?"

"I suppose so. It was the writing style and paper as the last note."

"Hm," Will said to himself. "I have a feeling we'll be finding a lot more of these the deeper we go."

He turned to continue down the trail. Suddenly, for what felt like a few seconds, his vision blacked out. Every one of his senses failed him for exactly three seconds. Then, as suddenly as they had left him, they came back. He stumbled, re-adjusting to his equilibrium.

"What does that mean?" Twilight asked, behind him. Will turned to her.

"What does what mean?"

"What you just said? Kog-Kogeeto airo...I don't know."

A phrase suddenly appeared in his mind, like unlocking a memory he was sure he never had.

"_Cogito ero sum_." Will said, unable to stop himself.

"That's it! What does it mean?"

"I don't know. Did I say that?"

"You don't remember?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. She raised the other one as well, adopting a look of realization. "Oh! Did it happen again?"

"The...word thing? The flash?Yeah. I blacked out, this time."

"It sounds like the same language of the last one."

"_Nosce te ipsum_? I'm pretty sure it is. I just wish I knew what they both mean. This whole situation is obtuse enough without other languages complicating everything."

"Everything about you is getting weirder by the minute." Twilight said. She paused before saying, "That...didn't come out right."

"No, I know what you mean." Will responded. He turned to continue down the path. "And I think I agree with you."


	8. Chapter 8

"Eye spy with my little eye..." Twilight paused. She looked around the forest as they walked.

"Is it green?" Will said in a snarky tone. "Is it leafy? Is it a tree?"

"No! It's..." She frowned as she looked around for anything breaking the pattern of trees. She looked up and smiled. "Ha! Okay! Eye spy with my little eye something black!"

"Something black?" Will said.

Twilight's smile faded from her face.

"No, wait...that's smoke." It took a few moments for the thought to sink in. "Smoke!"

A pillar smoke drifted from a far away point obscured by trees. Twilight bounded off into the bushes toward it.

"Wait!" Will shouted, running after her. "Why are we running _towards_ it!" Twilight was already to far ahead to hear him. Will stumbled on a log hidden in the underbrush and realized that running through the forest would require much more dexterity than he had developed so far.

_Okay, _he thought, _think. You've seen deer. How do they run? Jumps. Lots of jumps. Very agile._

He saw a log approaching and bounded over it.

"Ha!" He shouted after landing. He tried it again, but misjudged the weight of his feet. They knocked into each other and sent him crashing to the ground, his muzzle in the dirt.

"Ow."

Will stood and shook himself off. He continued running toward the smoke. Fortunately, bright purple was an unnatural color in any forest, fantasy or not. He spotted Twilight in a clearing up ahead. He stumbled through a bush, snapping twigs and branches while spitting leaves from his mouth.

Twilight jumped at the sound, as did the pony she was talking to. This new one was very different from the others. It was a dull gray color with black stripes on its sides. It wore its mane in a large, spiky mohawk. The two stood next to a smoldering, but controlled, bonfire.

"Oh! You scared me." Twilight turned to the pony. "Zecora, this is Will, my traveling partner."

"Zecora?" Will said to himself. Stripes. Mohawk. African-esque name. "Zebra?"

"You are correct, a zebra I be," said Zecora. Her voice was surprisingly deep and possessed almost an ethereal quality. "And who are you, my curious pony?"

"I'm Will. Nice to meet you." He grinned and instinctively held out a hoof. Zecora smiled warmly back and touched hers to his. _I think I'm getting the hang of all this, _he thought.

"A pleasure to meet you, earth pony Will. Tell me, where are you headed up over the hill?"

_Rhyming. _Will thought. _Curveball_.

He stole a glance at Twilight and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't worry. She does that."

Will shrugged. "Well. Okay then" He turned back to Zecora. "We're headed for a library that's supposed to be hidden in the middle of the forest. I think it's called the Everfree Library. Know anything about it?"

A grave expression came over Zecora's face. "The Everfree Library, if you must know, is deep in the forest where I _never_ go. A cursed force and endless dread, 'tis a place I dare not tread."

"Sounds peachy."

"Zecora," Twilight interjected, "you say the Library is dangerous? More than the forest itself?"

"An alien force guards the path, one whom I would not test its wrath. It guards a secret oh so dear, a magical book we all must fear."

"..._The Melody of Souls_?" Will said, quietly.

Zecora's eyes grew wide at the name. She backed away quickly, stumbling over the charred rocks she had placed around the fire.

"To know it's name will bring us fear! The howling pain may find us here! Speak not the blaspheme! Waste no more breath! Lest you summon here an empty death!" Zecora was actually shaking, her wise demeanor fading away behind her eyes.

"But why!" Will asked. "What _is_ it!"

"A faithless volume, a heartless power, created in the darkest hour! The key and lock to reality! What is and shall and will never be!"

The zebra picked up a brown satchel from the ground and threw it over her back. She began to back away into the trees. "I can speak no more of this wretched tome. Heed my advice, young ponies. Go home!" And, with that, she turned and bounded off into the forest. In less than an instant, she had vanished among the trees.

"Doesn't sound like anything we should be messing with." Will said.

"I believe most evil is just misunderstood." Twilight said. "Zecora is very wise, but she sometimes falls short in the communication department."

"I can see why." Will turned to her. "So, what do you want to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a guest in your world. I figure that makes you something of a host. Getting me back home isn't worth anyone over on _this_ side getting killed. It's your decision what we do next."

Twilight thought a moment, pacing the remnants of the fire. He was right about the danger, but every second Will stayed in this world, there was a greater chance that something bad could happen. Who knows what would happen if he got hurt? Or even died?

_The best course of action is to head back to town, _she thought_, and gather up the gang. We've tackled situations like this before. Maybe they could even enlist the help of the Elements of Harmony._

"Alright." Twilight said with finality as she turned around. "Here's what we're going-"

An enormous plume of flame suddenly erupted from the smoldering pile to her left. The two backed away, wincing at the heat washing over their faces. The fire twisted and writhed unnaturally, like the body of an enormous snake. Then, as quickly as it burst to life, the flame died down, reduced to a quietly crackling patch of flame.

Will and Twilight glanced at each other. Will crept closer to the fire, keeping his eyes as closed as possible while still being able to see. When he was close enough to feel the heat, he opened his eyes a little wider.

In the middle of the flame sat a paper scroll, untouched and pristine.

"Twilight..." He said. She came to his side and looked into the flame. She gasped and the two exchanged glances. She backed up a few feet and slowly levitated the note from the fire and set it on the ground.

Will poked it with his foot. It wasn't even warm.

Twilight unfurled the note and began to read.

"'It can be difficult to understand the tedious nature of omnipotence. When one has within his grasp everything, he will all the more relish the convenience of having nothing. The finality of _tabula rasa_. The power of the blank page.'"

She rolled up the scroll and set it in her saddlebag.

"Wordy little jerk, isn't he?" Will grumbled.

"This is wild magic." Twilight said. "Very old. The kind I've only read about. Scribble Scribe might be a powerful magician."

"Or even some kind of deity."

"Probably not, but..." Twilight glanced at the flame. She frowned. "I think we should keep going."

"Are you sure?" Will asked. "I'm game for whatever, but you heard Zecora. We're not exactly heading for a beach getaway. Besides, these little 'incidents' or whatever are becoming more deadly, too."

"Precisely," Twilight responded. "I'll stick by what I said in the beginning. I don't want my friends in danger if Scribble Scribe is using black magic of some kind."

"But...what about you?"

"I..." Twilight sighed. "I know what it's like to be far away from home. I want to help in any way I can."

Will smiled and gave her a one-legged hug. "I appreciate that. Thank you." Twilight smiled back.

"Also, I hate to admit it, but I'm curious. Call me a bookworm, but I love a good mystery."

"We might as well be _in _one." Will said. He took his leg off her shoulder and turned to the woods. "Ready?"

"Let's hit the road!" Twilight said, rejuvenated.

"Like a _sledgehammer_!" Will added excitedly as he galloped into the trees.


	9. Chapter 9

Will looked worriedly into the sky.

"It's getting dark."

The sky was turning a deep purple as the sun began its descent behind the mountains in the distance. The treetops began to lose their definition and resembled only spindly, jagged cracks against the sky. He turned to Twilight.

"Are we still going the right way?" He asked.

Twilight was studying the map. The dirt path had been obscured by overgrown grass, so they decided to follow the clearing of trees instead.

"As far as I can tell." Twilight said. "There used to be a small farm along the right side of the road. Keep an eye out for any conspicuous clearings."

"Gotcha."

"And, as for the dark, it's a good thing I brought..." She paused for anticipation as she set down the map and rummaged in her bag. She emerged with a lantern between her teeth. "Thpithph!" With a slight flash of light from her horn, a flame blinked to life inside of it.

"Good." Will said. "I've got a feeling we're about to see first hand what makes this forest so dangerous." As he turned , he felt something cold on his back. He froze in shock, his breath locked inside his throat. Shaking, he turned his head slowly around.

Twilight had set the lantern on his back and was on the ground beside him, making notes and plotting points on the map. Will sighed in relief, jostling the light.

"Hmmm..." Twilight said softly to herself. She tapped the pencil against the ground. Without looking away, she held out her hoof. "Compass."

Will craned his neck and grabbed the compass with his teeth. He awkwardly spat it into Twilight's hoof. She looked slowly up at it. "...Eeww..." she moaned. She dropped it on the ground and rubbed it dry in the tall grass.

Setting it next to the map, she rotated herself until she was facing north.

_About six miles down, the path will begin to curve to the northeast. Somewhere near that turning point is the library. _She thought. _The problem is, it's too far off the path to justify walking straight there. We could save time by cutting through the path, but _that_ would involve moving through the forest._

She absentmindedly scraped her foot against the grass. _The path itself isn't very reliable, either. This would be a _lot _easier if I could just get a point of reference._

Twilight stood and took the lantern off of Will's back.

"At least buy me a drink first," he snarked.

She turned. "Whu?"

"...Nothing. Nevermind."

She trotted to the edge of the path and looked into the trees. The light shone a far distance inside, but not enough to make out any details. The trees were too thick. Squinting, she could barely make out an obscure shape, not too far away.

Opposite her, Will sighed and tapped his hooves against the ground. Glancing out to his side of the woods, he discovered that he could make out...absolutely nothing. He gleaned more useful information from gazing into a black bedsheet.

All of a sudden, a very strange thought forced its way into Will's mind.

_A rustle in the bushes caught his attention. Will turned around just in time to see a large shape lunge from the forest and decapitate Twilight._

He shook his head and blinked. He felt as if he had woken from a light sleep.

A rustle in the bushes caught his attention.

"TWILIGHT!" He screamed. Will turned and bolted to the unicorn. She looked at him, an expression of alarm on her face, as he leaped into the air and slammed into her, knocking them both to the ground. At the same time, an enormous black shape darted from the gloom of the trees. It missed them by inches, but managed to rake its talons along Will's side. He grimaced in response and cried out in pain.

Rolling off of her, he struggled to stand. The lantern had been knocked out of Twilight's mouth and was lying on the ground next to them, still ignited. The creature stood just outside the area of light. It seemed bipedal, with enormous, muscular legs covered in dark brown fur. The fur, however, clashed with a strange gray pattern that seemed to pepper the creature's body. It wasn't until it stepped forward that Will realized what they were.

Feathers.

Leaning forward, they could see that this strange monster had the body structure of a bear, but the head of a bird, beak, feathers and all.

"Owlbear!" Twilight whispered. The hybrid paced menacingly around the clearing. Its eyes were wide and reflective. It opened its beak and hissed at them as it began clawing at the ground.

"Get ready to run," Twilight whispered. "I have an idea."

She began to creep forward, very slowly. The owlbear watched her, its eyes frozen on her tiny form. Will, shocked at what she was doing, began to walk slowly behind her, not sure of what he should be doing. Light a flash of lightning, the owlbear lunged at Twilight. While only a few feet away, she stood up tall and straightened her neck. A blinding flash burst from her horn. The owlbear screeched in shock and pain as it stumbled back.

The light was enough to send Will back a few feet, shielding the light from his eyes. He let his leg fall as another thought found him.

_Twilight turned around to him, shouting "Run!" In her distraction, the owlbear quickly flashed its talons and gored her from the side, killing her instantly_.

Will jerked himself back to reality. His eyes began to clear as he saw Twilight begin to turn towards him.

He galloped as fast as he could before the creature could regain its composure. He shot past Twilight and ran beside the owlbear, hopefully in a blind spot. He faced away from it and, praying that this was as dangerous as he had always been warned, bucked his back legs as hard as he could. His thick hooves connected to the side of the owlbear's knee. It wasn't enough to break it, but it did buckle the creature's balance and send it falling to the ground.

_The owlbear swiped blindly, slashing across Will's face._

The owlbear swiped blindly as Will ducked a slash to his face.

_It pecked at Twilight, punching a hole in her skull._

It pecked at Twilight, nearly making contact. However, Will was just in time to deliver another kick to the side of its face. The owlbear reared away, screeching as it crawled back into the trees.

"_Now_ run!" Will said to her. They bolted down the path, Twilight stooping to snatch the lantern from the ground. "Can you do that again?" He shouted.

"The light! Yes! Easily!" She said, levitating the lantern beside them as they ran.

"Good! Be ready in case it attacks again!"

The continued to gallop as fast as they could while only seeing a few feet in front of them. There was still barely light in the sky, but the trees and woods cut visibility almost completely. The trees stood over them like sentinels, harbingers of emptiness and danger. Their jagged branches seemed more like fingers reaching to the sky. Will was constantly on edge around dusk, especially around trees. He always imagined that it was only a matter of time before he caught a silhouette out of the corner of his eye of something that wasn't there a moment before...

Their gallop slowed to a canter, their canter slowed to a trot, and eventually their trot came to a complete stop. Twilight set the lantern between them as they panted and coughed, trying to catch their breath. After a few moments, she walked to will and threw her front legs around him in an embrace.

"You-You saved my _life_!" She exclaimed. "I don't-I can't-Thank you! Thank you so much! I'd have been _dead_ if it weren't for you!"

She let go and backed up a few feet to give him space. Twilight looked shyly at the ground and kicked the dirt sheepishly. "Thanks." She finished, anticlimactically.

"Uh...Well...Oh...Thanks...I mean, you're welcome." Will said, not entirely sure which incident he was in shock from. "But...I guess-I mean...we wouldn't have even _been_ in the situation if it weren't for me, so..."

"Don't be modest! You took on an owlbear singlehandedly!" Twilight's ecstatic joy faded when she realized the insanity of her words. "You...took on an owlbear..._single-handedly_." She said again. She took a step forward and looked at Will with shock. "_How?_"

"I don't know, I just...I was getting flashes of what it would do next." Will looked away and rubbed his head. "It's weird, I don't know. It wasn't like last time. It's...I could tell that...they were _my_ thoughts, not someone else's."

She stared at him, thinking hard while keeping a stern demeanor. Eventually, she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Will..." Twilight said. "I want you to know what I trust you. You saved my life and you seem very sincere. But..._what are you_?"

"I'm human, as far as I know."

"'As far as you know?'"

"That's right..."

"Is this kind of thing common with humans?"

"No..."

"This..." Twilight sighed and walked a few feet away. "You go against a number of natural laws, both magic _and_ mundane. And I know you mean well, but...it's _terrifying_. It's like the laws of the universe bend themselves to conform to you, whether _for_ you or _away_ from you. And even if you don't mean it...it's still distressing, to say the least."

"I...I'm sorry." He said, feeling very small. Will was reminded of the time he was suspended from school for anger problems. The way his classmates kept away from him and acted distant when he came back. Even his friends. They wouldn't say, but he knew that they were scared of him. Scared of what he might do. It was the same position Twilight found herself in. And, to be honest, he sympathized.

Twilight turned and saw the hurt across Will's face. She sighed and moved closer to him.

"No, don't be...It's not your fault. I just don't like it when things happen that I can't explain, that's all. Just...if something weird happens again, tell me. Especially if it's something bad."

"Okay...I don't really know until after it's happened, though."

"Well...just do your best." Twilight smiled and patted him on the head. As she did, Will's mane rustled.

Out of it fell another note. They both reeled in shock as it hit the ground between them.

"Hey," he said, looking up at Twilight. "Something weird happened."

Twilight levitated the note and unrolled it. "This is a long one," she said, half to herself.

"'I remember an especially vivid dream I once had that has stayed with me for years. I dreamed that I was dying. My life in the dream had been extraordinarily short and now I only had a few days left to live. My dream-self spoke with a theology professor at a local college about reincarnation. About how he wondered whether, when he died, would he find himself in a new body with no recollection of his previous, brief life? Would he simply wake up one day, as normal as any other, completely oblivious to the death of his previous self? Or were there other versions of him on different planes of existence whose lives he would live out vicariously when he was dead and gone? My dream-self wondered and feared for the future, afraid that he would be forgotten within the life of his other self.

"'Then, I woke up.'"

Twilight looked up from the note. The two looked at each other, without saying a word. She rolled the note up and tucked it into her bag. Pulling out the map, she held it in front of her as she walked. Will picked up the lantern and stood next to her, making sure she had enough light to see.

"I think we're almost there." She said.


	10. Chapter 10

Night fell much more quickly than either anticipated.

The moon was obscured behind a thick blanket of clouds. A few stars were able to shine their way through, but not enough to provide any more light. Twilight frowned up at the sky.

_Great. _Now_ it's partly-cloudy. _She thought. _Thanks a lot, Dash._

Will had gone from walking in front and taking directions from Twilight to lagging a bit behind and staying as close to the light as possible. He was far more terrified than he thought he would be. With the new knowledge that alien creatures actually _did_ live in the woods, his paranoia was more justified than ever. It didn't help matters that he didn't like the woods at night on even the most peaceful of days.

They followed what remained of the path. It was completely overtaken by tall grass by then. While they could still follow between the corridor of trees, the two actually had to stop at one point and measure the ages of saplings to make sure that they were still headed in the right direction.

The woods were quiet. Far more quiet than they should have been. While the occasional nocturnal animal would snap a twig or rustle the leaves of a tree (sending chills up Will's spine each time), there was a distinct lack of insects, rodents, rabbits, or other animals one would expect to see up and about. They even passed a pond at one point, one completely absent of the midnight conversation of frogs and toads.

The silence extended to Will and Twilight as well. Neither of them had said much since the last note. Reading it had suddenly made the world feel much more fragile. Neither wished to break the silence out of a vague anxiety that they would draw the attention of an unseen force, imagined or no.

"...This is stupid." Will said, at last. His voice was much louder than he expected, so he lowered his volume. "It's one thing to be wandering in the middle of the woods at night, but it's another thing to do it in _silence_."

"I'm just trying to concentrate on where we're going." Twilight said, more to herself.

"Well I'm just sick of feeling like I'm alone here." He moved a few inches into the light. "I don't like the woods. Not at night. When I was younger, I went with some friends out behind their house. We ended up getting lost for a few hours. I can't remember any time where I was more scared than I was then."

"Are you scared of the dark?" Twilight asked.

"No. I'm scared of what's _in_ the dark."

They were silent for a moment.

"So...tell me where you're from," Will said.

"Huh?"

"That seems to be one of the first questions you ask someone, but I guess I never got around to it. I want to break the silence _somehow_. Where are you from? Tell me about yourself."

Twilight set the lantern down on her back. "There's not much to say, really. I was born in Canterlot. I lived there for most of my life, studying magic under the Princess. Princess Celestia."

"Bit of a mouthful."

"Magic has always been a strong suit of mine. I've been practicing a long time. Except for maybe the more difficult spells, I'm sure that I could learn any spell in any book if you give me enough time."

"You definitely sound confident about it."

"It's one of the few things I know I'm good at." Twilight said. "The cutie mark probably doesn't hurt, either. But one thing I always regretted was that I wasn't more social. Canterlot is a _huge_ place, with thousands of ponies, but I was more content to stay inside and read. That's _still_ true, to a degree, but it wasn't until I came to Ponyville that I learned how important a relationship, of any kind, can be."

"You're close to your friends?" Will asked.

"Very much. I wouldn't be half of who I am know without them." Twilight said. "What about you? You're the mysterious pony from another world and I barely know more than your name!"

Will shrugged. "My world's not all that exciting. Magic doesn't exist there. Well, _I_ think it does, but that's not a common opinion. Very dirty. Very chaotic. But, y'know, it's my home. I can't help but love it, warts and all.

"I've got friends, some of them very close, but I keep to myself most of the time. Go to class, do my work, blah blah blah. I'm not all that social either, to tell you the truth."

"I understand. Believe me. That you've got better things to do than deal with other ponies. Or humans, I guess." Twilight said. "So what do you do? How do you keep busy?"

"I'm mostly a writer."

"Really? I didn't know that. What do you write?"

"Short stories, some not-so-short ones. Fiction. I like to think I'm good at it, but it's hard to tell. It's hard to judge the quality of your own story. You need second opinions, but I'm not so good at getting those."

"Well, at least it's something you like to do."

"Very true. It's a skill I like to improve on and that I enjoy. But my attempts at 'improving' usually lean toward making things needlessly complicated. Probably just to prove to people that I'm smart." Will shrugged again. "I'd better stop complaining before I get on a roll with it. I'm good at _that_, too."

They lapsed into silence, much more warm than before. Conversation had helped. The forest seemed less imposing and the darkness less threatening. Will and Twilight still kept their guards up in case anything else were to attack, but they were able to allow themselves to relax a bit as they walked.

"I've been thinking," Will said, thinking out loud. "Why am I here? It's a little funny that I'm not just navel-gazing this time, but why am I in Equestria?"

"Maybe that's what _The Melody of Souls_ will tell us." Twilight said.

"But we don't even know what that _is_."

"Well, you're the one who thought of it. Any ideas?"

Will shook his head. "I don't. All I know is that it's really important for me to find it. But...I remember yesterday perfectly. I was at my dad's condo. Watching TV. Eating-"

"Watching what?" Twilight asked.

"It's...uh...it's complicated. Entertainment. Anyway, I went to sleep. Nothing special. I didn't even go to sleep that _late_, I just...did. Next time I open my eyes, I'm here. And just about everything looks familiar to me. I've never had such intense deja vu in my entire life. Maybe this is just some whacked-out lucid dream. I certainly haven't seen much evidence to the contrary."

"But...what about me?" Twilight asked.

"You're...Okay, maybe this isn't a dream. But this definitely isn't the same reality I went to sleep in. I'll remind you, I'm _still_ not convinced I'm not just crazy."

"You seem pretty real to me, Will."

"Of course _you'd_ say that. For all I know, you're a figment of my imagination. A friendly, helpful figment, but a figment nonetheless."

"Or..." Twilight interjected. "Maybe it was magic?"

"Can magic reach across dimensions? Maybe we just have different definitions of the word 'magic.'"

"I do know a thing or two about the subject. Not even Celestia and the greatest unicorns of all time know much about how magic works. All we have to go on are theories and personal experience. There are at least twenty books in the Ponyville library about magical mishaps and incidents that defy every law we've come up with."

"Have there been any cases like mine?"

"No...but all I'm saying is that the world is a big, mysterious place. Anything is possible."

"Can't argue with that. But I don't like to think that things happen for no reason. There's got to be some logic behind why I'm here, why I'm a _pony_ of all things, and why I'm having psychic episodes. It's just not the kind of world I'm used to."

"If _The Melody of Souls_ doesn't help, then we can go to the Princess. You have my word that, one way or another, we'll get you home."

"Thank you, Twilight." Will said, smiling. _That's if, _he thought, _I'm not home already, waiting to wake up_.

"My pleasure!" She said cheerfully. She stopped and set down the lantern as she unfurled the map. "About how far away was that pond?"

"Uhm...how fast have we been walking? Maybe half a mile?"

"Hmm..." Twilight looked up and around them. She paced the clearing and looked into the woods holding, the lantern aloft. She realized what she was doing and stepped away from the trees nervously.

"I think we're almost there." She said, coming back. "The problem is that we'll have to cut through the forest to get there. That's dangerous enough in the _daytime_."

"In any case, let's rest hear for a minute." Will said, awkwardly sitting on the ground. "My fee-hooves feel like they're about to fall off."

"Alright," Twilight said apprehensively, "but wasting time won't do us any favors."

"It's not 'wasting.' It's 'resting.' I want to know my legs will still be working if we get attacked by a squid-buffalo or whatever lives in these stupid woods."

"Well, alright." She said, sitting down next to the lantern. "But you know, staying still for too long will just make it easier for anything that might be stalking us. And the light won't help, either."

Will stood and walked over to the bushes. He stuck his head into the underbrush and came out with a large log in his mouth. He walked to Twilight, dragging it across the ground.

"Lie thithph on hire, pease?"

"What?"

He spat it out. "Light that on fire, please?"

Twilight's horn glowed as a flame burst to life on the branch.

"There." Will said, sitting down. "Now it's a campfire. We've made camp."

"Okay...I don't follow."

"Now that we have a legitimate camp, animals may be more willing to stay away. They'll see the light and think 'Oh, that's fire, better stay away,' as opposed to 'Look, there's light, maybe there's food with it.'"

"I...don't think it works that way."

"Well...then...at least we have more light to see if anything _else_ comes for us, right?"

"I suppose."

"Good!" Will stuck out his front legs and began warming them against the flames. He sighed contentedly as he felt his throbbing pain eventually subside. He stood and turned around, warming his back legs, too.

Twilight looked at him and saw the talon marks that had been scraped up his side.

"You're hurt!" She said, standing rapidly. Will looked at her in alarm.

"What?"

"Your side! The owlbear must have scraped you without us realizing!" Twilight levitated a roll of bandages and a flask of water from her bag. "Hold still."

Will winced as the felt the water pour over his wounds. "Listen, they're not that deep. I'll be fine."

"Owlbears are deadly creatures. Who knows if you haven't been infected with something? If we can't get you home tonight, we're taking you to the doctor _tomorrow_."

"Great. Now I have something _new_ to worry about. No sleep for me tonight!"

She wrapped the bandages tightly around his middle and snipped the slack off with a pair of medical scissors. "Perfect. If you feel any worse, let me know."

"Yes, ma'am."

They sat next to the fire, looking at it aimlessly while talking.

"Why is this library out in the middle of the forest?"

"I told you before that there used to be villages out here, didn't eye? I did a little reading on the library before we left. Apparently, Equestrian history says that there used to be a sect of pony monks that built libraries all across Equestria. They worshiped books and knowledge as sacred and their writers as gods."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Bit of an odd religion."

"They believed that the creator of the universe was a master storyteller and claimed to have holy books written by them. The monks died out from infighting because none of their 'holy books' said the same thing." Twilight said. "I don't know about the whole religion part of it, but a society of monks that collected books is probably something I need to look into. What if they were re-established! As a collector's society or a preservation fund?"

Twilight excitedly jittered her hooves against the ground. "EEE! I have a new project!"

A tall blade of grass fell against Will's face. He blinked and shook it off. "Are people going to be all that receptive to the restoration of an esoteric order of book-monks?"

"Well...maybe not the _complicated_ parts, but who doesn't love a good book! I'll ask the princess to charter a restoration committee to the Everfree Library if we find it. We could donate books to Ponyville and I'll have an entire _library_ to read! _Another one_!"

"Uh...oka-gh-phlph!" Another blade of grass got stuck in his mouth and he spat it out. He suddenly remembered something. He wasn't human anymore. And what did horses eat? Wondering to himself what it would taste like, Will opened his mouth and bit off a blade of grass and began chewing it.

_Huh. _He thought, _Tastes..._good_. Like a really good salad. Weirdly juicy._

He swallowed and glanced at the fire. The flame was nearly gone and most of the log had been reduced to ashes.

"I'll go find another stick or something." Will said as he stood.

Or, rather, he _tried_ to stand and failed.

"What?" He pulled at his legs and found that he couldn't move them. He began to panic, tugging at his limbs as they stayed frozen to the ground.

"Will?" Twilight asked. "Are you alright?" She gripped the handle of the lantern and tried to pick it up, but found it frozen to the ground. She pulled harder and ripped it from the dirt. The grass had somehow wrapped itself around the base of the lantern and held it to the ground. Terrified, she looked to Will. His legs had been bound together by the tall grass.

The ground was moving, grass and plants writhing of their own accord like thousands upon thousands of snakes.

"What's happening!" Will shouted. He began chewing on the grass that held his front legs down. More vegetation wrapped itself around his head and pinned it to the ground.

"This must be the evil force Zecora warned us about!" Twilight looked down to find the grass had trapped her as well, pinning her legs to her side. She used magic to cut its hold, but more sprung up and ensnared her even more tightly. For every blade she cut, two more seemed to take their place.

Will was constricted against the ground. He felt like he was being constricted by thick ropes, each one slowly tightening around him until he could barely breathe.

Then, he felt himself start to move.

He couldn't see where he was going, but he watched as Twilight and the lantern started to shrink away as he was being pulled into the dark forest by the grass.

"_Twilight_!" He shouted as best he could. The grass tightened around his chest until he was gasping for air.

"Will! Just hang on!" Twilight's horn began to glow. A number of the grass blades were split in half across his body. He even received a few cuts from Twilight's magic. He ignored them and sprang to his feet as fast as he could. More grass sprung up behind him and pulled him back to the ground. He was dragged into the inky darkness of the trees as he dug into the ground with his front hooves.

"_Will!_" Twilight yelled as the pony vanished into the writhing leaves. She began to thrash and toss in the grass, slicing and cutting with abandon. She managed to free one leg, but it was immediately brought down again. She too was being dragged into the trees. Terrified, Twilight frantically tried to think of a spell that would free her, but none made their way into her panicked brain. She could only pant and groan as she helplessly pulled at her binds. She felt the leaves of the bushes fall on her as she was pulled back into the darkness and watched helplessly as the small light from the lantern was obscured by the writhing leaves.

Twilight was left in darkness. The night sky had become a black curtain over the world. The only sounds were her panicked breathing, her pounding heart, and the constant rustling of the trees around her. She tugged and pulled at the grass, but it did no good. Twilight tried to think of what to do, what spells she could perform, anything her vast knowledge could be put to use for, but she was in no state to perform any of them. Suddenly, she stopped moving. The grass and plants still held her to the ground, but she was no longer being pulled. She waited in the dark, blinking frantically, trying to see _anything_ around her. Her fear suddenly went icy cold in her veins as she realized that she _was_ being pulled.

_Down_.

Her fear broke. It smashed through the ceiling of panic that enclosed her mind, going immediately into rage, into shock, into sadness, until she reached a state of tranquility and intense focus. She found a small point in the middle of her mind. Tapping inside of it, she was able to open her second set of eyes.

The ones that glowed.

Off in the distance, Will struggled against the grass, trying to tear and bite it off of him with his powerful teeth. He kicked a branch that had ensnared his back feet and tore at the binds with almost psychotic fervor. His fear had become rage. His adrenaline reached a fever pitch and he felt that he was about to tear his muscles from his bones with the fury with which he tore and the grass around him.

The only thing to bring him back to lucidity was a concussive thud that reverberated around the forest. He even felt it in his chest. Even the plants stopped moving as he looked up to see an enormous fireball in the distance incinerate everything within a ten foot radius.

Will took advantage of the pause and tore himself free from the grass. He used the fireball as a brief guide and saw a clearing far off to his right. He bolted through the woods, leaping and sprinting as fast as his powerful new legs could carry him. A thought flashed into his head.

_A large branch suddenly swung down and brained him, knocking him unconscious and sending his body seeping into the dirt._

A large branch swung down, but Will ducked it and leaped over another that swung at his legs. It reached a point where he no longer knew where he was going, just that he was moving forward as fast as he possibly could. He bucked and thrashed and issued a whinny a couple of times as he tore through the forest.

Suddenly, the forest was no longer there.

Will was sent crashing across the ground, falling onto thin weeds that became thick slabs of stone. He came to a stop against a block and collapsed to the ground. He moaned, panting heavily, but managed to roll over onto his side and face the forest.

A light came from the trees. Will watched as it grew closer and split into to lights. Eyes.

Twilight emerged from the forest, a swath of burned trees in her wake. Her eyes shone like two spotlights and her horn glowed in the middle of her forehead like a third. With every step she took, flames spouted from the ground and left singed hoof-marks in the grass.

The light left her eyes and she fell to the ground in a small heap. Will stood up on his sore, throbbing legs and limped to her. She opened her eyes as he approached and smiled. She used him for support as she stood on shaky legs and panted. Looking past him, Twilight's eyes grew wide. She pointed.

Will turned to see that they were at the base of a massive stone structure, partially fallen in and old as time itself. It towered above them, stretching across the clearing like a fallen colossus.

"We're here."


	11. Chapter 11

Twilight took a step forward, but her weak legs gave out on her. She fell against Will, who helped keep her on her feet.

"Thanks..." She said, breathing deeply. "Takes...a lot out of me...Just...give me a little time..."

"Of course." Will said. Twilight sat on the ground next to him and panted, her breathing slowly but surely regulating. "What happened?"

"Sometimes, when I get very stressed, I can lose control of my magic. It's only happened a few times before."

"Seems to come in handy."

"That may be, but who knows for how long?" She looked away. "It's a part of me I can't control and don't even really understand. Even if it's helpful...I don't like it."

"I understand." Will said. He looked off to the trees they had escaped from. They seemed as still as they had ever been, only moving in response to the light breeze that blew through the clearing. He wondered how they were going to get back through them if they weren't able to find anything here. Twilight could always burn a way through, but that would result in nearly an acre of destroyed forest. He doubted Twilight would be comfortable in doing it in the first place.

"Moving plants..." Will said to himself. Through the fog of panic, he had been struck by a particular flavor of deja vu. The idea of sentient, evil grass pulling them into the forest was not only familiar, but..._endearing_ to him in a strange way. In the same way as...

"Oh no..." Will said, his eyes wide. He stared at the forest, trying his hardest to piece together his thoughts into something coherent. Twilight looked up at him.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I remember...The plants coming to life, pulling people into trees, grabbing at them like fingers, I _remember_ this! _I wrote it!_"

Twilight groaned as she stood on her sore legs. "What do you mean? You wrote what?"

"Did the plants ever try to pull you _down_? Was the ground and dirt moving like it was alive?"

"Y-yes, it did." She looked away from him and shuddered, trying not to imagine what nearly happened to her.

"That was_ my idea_! I wrote it in a story! It was about a man-er-male human, who thought he accidentally killed his two friends. He started going crazy and thought that the ground had come to life and was trying to suck him down. This is the _exact_ same thing that happened in my story!"

"That's ridi-" Twilight began express her disbelief, but remembering the rest of her strange day caught the words in her throat. "That...No, no, this... It affected _me_, too! This actually _happened_! This wasn't a matter of your perception being altered. The _world itself_ changed according to an idea? From _you_? Every situation we find ourselves in ups the ante of what I'm willing to accept, and this is very nearly on the line!"

"It's not my _fault! _I don't mean to _do_ any of this!" _I think..._

"I know it's not! I'm..." Twilight sighed, composing herself. "I know it's not your fault. I'm just..._very_ frustrated. All we have are questions, right now, and I'm ready for some answers."

Twilight turned around and began to weakly limp to the stone steps that lead to the front door. Will sighed and trotted up beside her. As they made it to the steps, Twilight suddenly froze, her hair standing up on the back of her neck. She quickly turned, threw a front leg over Will's neck, and pulled him down behind a large slab of stone.

"There's something up there!" She hissed. Will rolled to his feet and sunk down as low as he could. He crept forward and stuck his head out as little as could manage from behind the rock. The cloud blocking the moon slowly moved out of the way, shedding a little more light on the clearing. It was enough to see the silhouette of a figure walking up the library steps.

A human figure.

Will quickly stood upright, so fast he briefly gave himself vertigo. He staggered a moment before rounding the stone just in time to see the figure's head vanish over the horizon of the steps. Will galloped up the stairs, tripping on every other step in his clumsy haste.

"Will!" Twilight hissed, poking her head from the rock. She groaned at the the frustrating audacity of the colt and began to climb the stairs after him.

They reached the landing at nearly the same time. The moon now shone bright, illuminating the massive wooden door that blocked the entrance to the library. There was no human, or anything resembling one.

At more or less the same time, Twilight and Will both saw the shadow of a pony, standing in front of the door. One of its hooves was set against the wood, and its head was turned around, perfectly still.

I turned and walked slowly toward the two ponies. As I moved into the light, Will noticed that, if he blinked quickly, my shadow would resemble a human's in the millisecond before his eyes shut.

As I stepped more clearly into the light, Twilight gasped. She glanced between Will and I, a shocked look on her face.

"What is it?" Will said, not keeping his eyes from me.

"You-What? You don't notice?"

"Notice what?"

"You-You two look are identical!"

"We-Huh? We do?"

"How can you not notice!"

"He can't," I said. Twilight jumped when she found my voice was the same as Will's. "It's not in his nature."

"Who...Are you...Scribble Scribe?" Twilight asked.

"I'm sorry," I said, "but you can't call me anything. That's _my_ nature."

I turned and pushed the large door. For such a tiny pony, the enormous slabs of wood carving swung open like they were made of nothing more than cardboard. I walked inside the old library, beckoning the two to follow. Twilight and Will glanced at one another before anxiously going inside.

The library was dark, old, and enormous. The only light came from the moonbeams shining through the numerous cracks and holes in the ceiling. Thousands of books lined the walls in ornate shelves inset into the walls. Many of them had fallen to the ground and were ruined by the effects of time, but most of them were still in pristine condition, despite a little dust. Twilight, while not ignoring purpose of their expedition, excitedly took in every sight. She beamed to herself in the darkness.

_We'll have to plot out a course here through the main road, _She planned. _Maybe perform some light excavation of the trees in the way while smoothing out the path. Get some unicorns for that? I'll have to make sure they know some basic fire spells. A library full of old books _and_ magic lectures! This is a dream come true!_

She tapped her hooves in excitement. Twilight noticed both Will and I had stopped, so she cleared her throat.

"Then..." Twilight said "are you the one who's been sending us notes?"

"I am."

"Alright...Sooo...We're here! Where's the book?"

I remained silent.

"Uhh...Do we..have to _look_ for it?"

I remained silent.

"Okaaay...Um. Thank you for leading us here! If it weren't for you, I doubt we would have even found the Library!"

"Will," I said, after a long pause. "You remain silent. Why?"

"I..." Will said. "I'm just thinking."

"About?"

"Just...I've never met you, but...I know for an absolute fact that I know you. I...I can't remember from where, though."

"You do know me." I said. "You know me better than anyone else in this or any universe. In fact, no one _can_ know me but _you_."

"I don't understand."

"Yes, you do. But you don't want to believe it." I turned to face the two and began to pace in front of them. "'You are a broken dream, pieces scattered and discarded like ashes set against the wind.' You've woken here with something missing, Will. You know it as well as I do, but you've hidden it from yourself."

Will stood silent. He thought as hard as he could, but discovered that this did everything but what he needed. Instead, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, thinking of nothing at all. The answer came almost immediately. It was something he had known from the very beginning, but he didn't know how.

"You're...me." He finally said. "We're connected. Whatever you are, you're a part of me. I feel that it's true, but...I don't know how."

"We are two of three that should be one." I said. "A trinity of self, one that had been shattered. The I, the You, and the Is. The three selves have been split apart. We must put them back together."

"I...I know what you're saying," Will said, "but...I...it won't add up in my mind. I just can't put the pieces together, even though I know the answer."

"It's understandable. You don't want to compromise the logical progression. Writers can't help but think linearly." I turned to Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle." I said. "Did you know that, as we speak here, the town of Ponyville has been destroyed?"

Twilight paused, every cell in her body freezing.

"...What?"

"While you were gone, a horde of dragons attacked the town and razed it to the ground. There was not a single survivor. They were _very_ thorough."

"No..." Twilight said, tears forming in her eyes. "No! NO! _NO!_" She began to panic, looking around her as she moved toward the door. "We-We have to...Oh GOD! NO!"

"That's...horrible..." Will said, quietly.

"We have to go!" Twilight pleaded. "We have-We've got to...to warn..." She collapsed to the ground, sobbing. "Oh god...dead...they're all...dead..."

She sobbed quietly into her legs. Her fragile cries echoed through the empty library. Will stared at the ground, his mind racing. Something unidentifiable bubbled up from the bottom of his subconscious. A vague thought, shrouded in questions. Something important. Something he had made himself forget. Something that made him nervous.

Something that was a part of him.

"That's..._horrible_." Will said, looking up. "That's..._What!_ How does that make _any_ kind of cohesive sense!"

Twilight looked up at Will, confusion mixed with her grief.

"Number one: a _horde_ of _dragons_! Are you _kidding_ me! I _really_ hope you are, because that is _the_ most pathetic excuse for wanton death and destruction I've ever heard! 'Why dragons?' 'Eh, just cuz.' You might as well have said the damn town just _exploded_ of its own accord! There's _no_ lead-up, _no _foreshadowing of any kind, and _no_ story motivation! It just _happened_!

"Number two: why, why oh why oh _why_, do you think that a plot twist involving the deaths of hundreds of characters constitutes an effective twist in a colorful story about magic, talking, _ponies! _It's like re-writing the end of _Heart of Darkness _to say that Kurtz came back to civilization, married a princess, and lived happily ever after. It doesn't make any. Tonal. _Sense_!

"Number three: why the hell should we even _believe _you! Through the multiple conversations about meta-physics, psychology, and simply _explaining our thoughts,_ we've been established as reasonably smart characters. There's not a single instance in this story that we haven't brought into question at some point. Why would it make sense for us to suddenly believe a character, one that came completely out of left field, who tells us some cataclysmic fate has befallen our town with no _proof_, no _reasoning, _and with absolutely no established reason that he's even _telling the truth_!"

Will turned to Twilight and helped her off the ground.

"No, Twilight, Ponyville is fine. Know why? Because this hack understands less about causality than he does about story structure. Creating completely _asinine _tonal shifts _midway though the third act_! I'm doing the same thing, but that's because I've _led. up. to. it. _This is the payoff that's we've been building toward ever since page one! It's a gentle slope down a hill, not a drop-off on a _cliff!"_

Will panted as his rage subsided. His eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open as he realized what he was saying. I smiled back at him, watching as understanding flooded his mind.

"...Ohhh..."

"I think I've made my point." I said.

"Yeah," Will said. "I think you have." He shook his head. "_Nosce te ipsum? Cogito ero sum? _Wow. Latin? Really? This is just embarrassing."

"Will?" Twilight said. "I...I _really_ hate being in this position, but...I have no idea what's going on..."

"I know you don't." He said, soothingly. "It's okay. You're not supposed to." He held out a hoof and smiled warmly.

"Hi. My name's Will. I'm the writer."

"I...I know. You already told me."

"No, no." Will said, shaking his head. "Not _a_ writer. _The_ writer. _Your_ writer."

"My..._what_?"

"Your writer. Well, really _our_ writer, but your the only one here who's thoughts aren't really my own, so...yeah."

"That...this doesn't make sense." Twilight said, rubbing her forehead. "You...you can't be my _writer_! There's nothing to _write_!"

"Well, I wrote _that._" He said. He kept his voice as friendly and as calm as he possibly could. "Listen, what's going to happen in the next few pages isn't going to make any sense to you at all. It's not because you're stupid. You're a very intelligent character and one I really enjoyed writing. But you're not really _supposed_ to understand. That's for the benefit of our buddies on the _outside_."

"But...Will..." Twilight sighed. "Please...just _try_ to help me make sense of this..._What are you?_"

"Something with your best interests in mind." Will said, smiling warmly. "_That_ I can promise."

"Are you the same pon-_being_ I met this morning?"

"No. I'm him, but better. I'm not lying to myself anymore."

"We're not whole yet." I said. Will turned to look at me. "You now realize your own existence, but you aren't capable of controlling your destiny. You still speak at the wish and whim of another."

"I do?" Will asked. "Who's?"

"Our third. Our mysterious brother that exists in a place that we can never see. The true self. He has been left crippled by our absence, but he still continues to tell our story. There is no telling how long he can continue without his Persona and Shadow."

"I have a question, then. If you're my inner self, then you'll be the best to ask." Will said. "Why? Why does this story even exist?"

"Because we always strive for self discovery. This was no different."

"...Did it work?"

"Who knows? The story isn't over yet." I said.

"But...there's all these characters I'm responsible for. I can't just end the story _now_. We need closure. For their sake. Didn't we establish earlier that they were in danger?"

"Yes, we did."

"How?"

"A fractured, disconnected writer can be more destructive than any force. Were we to stay as we were, who knows what we would have done?"

"Is that why all the characters were acting weird around me?"

"They could sense your nature. The fact that you existed to them caused a great deal of distress . They knew, deep down, that something was wrong." I explained.

"Why didn't I know all this from the beginning?"

"You were determined to make yourself a character. You had to cast away your existence in order to find yourself in a new light. But this isn't natural. Who you are now is not the real view of your self. That is who _I _am."

"Then how can we become one again?" Will asked.

"We need only to finish the story." I began to walk down the length of the hallway, nearing a pedestal surrounded by an empty moat. Will turned to Twilight.

"Twilight," he said, "thank you for everything you've done. The decisions you made were yours. I mean that truthfully." He swung a leg over her neck and hugged her. She froze a moment, disorientated more than she ever had been in her life. But, despite her confusion, she returned his hug.

"What's happening?" Twilight asked.

"I'm going home."

"Will..." She said. "I don't know what you are...but...I'm glad I met you."

"Then there's at least one fan of this story." He said.

Without another word, he released her and walked to the podium with me. In the middle of the platform was a large book. Written on the front, in clear, typed letters, were words that Will himself could finally read.

_The Melody of Souls_.

He held up a hoof and swung open the front cover.

Inside was a book. He opened its cover. Inside it was another book. And inside that was another book. And another. And another. And another. And another. With every turning page, another book appeared inside of it. An endlessly repeating fractal of a story within a story, continuing ad nauseum for eternity. It extended down into the imagined depth of mind and reality, so much so that he became dizzy and disorientated when looking at it.

Will shut the cover and turned to me.

"What does that mean?"

"That is our story. We can't finish it here. We can only use it as a conduit to finish it elsewhere."

I stood beside him and set my hoof against the thick cover. Will stood beside me and did the same.

We stepped inside of one another, like two beams of light overlapping.

A bright flash of light illuminated the library. Twilight flinched and covered her eyes. She was sliding across the ground from the force of the winds and pure energy that radiated from the podium.

I stepped out of the light, a glowing figure clad in flowing robes of light itself. Whole again. I flexed my arms and cracked my fingers. A habit. I held my arm out to the east and opened my hand. An entire city of ponies on the other side of the planet was eradicated. I clenched my hand into a fist. They were brought back to life and left with no memories of their destruction. Two golden wings sprouted from my back. A halo in the design of an infinity sign appeared above my head. A third eye opened in the middle of my forehead. I unmade them just as easily.

I floated to the ground and moved over to Twilight. I don't know what she saw me as. She began to back away in shock, but she did not run. I was glad of this. I brought myself to her eye level and ran my hand down her mane.

"Through you, Twilight Sparkle, I spoke true things." I said. "That is more than I could ever ask. A piece of you will always be with me. Thank you."

I gave her a quick hug. I loved her like a daughter. She was not my creation, but I lived through her as much as if she was.

I moved through the open door and onto the landing. I breathed in the imaginary air and breathed it out just as easily.

I began to open.

I unfolded my mind like origami, expanding myself across the infinite cosmos of the world I briefly lived in. I ran my hands through the thoughts and dreams of countless sleeping minds. Those that I touched had prophetic dreams for a month. This I would not undue. I opened myself wider and wider, the landscape of eternity flowing under me.

Rivers of consciousness traversed the sky. Millions of them, crossing over themselves in dense fabric of sentience. I grasped a thread. A pony from Fillydelphia is living with his daughter. His wife and her mother was now two years deceased. He is trying to put on a brave face for the sake of his daughter, but he cries himself to sleep more often than he would like to admit.

I grasped another. A young zebra from the lower lands is starving. She lives with her mother and her seven siblings. She is the oldest. She is on a journey to find food and water for her hungry family. Her will is unbreakable. Her determination as hard and pure as a diamond. She will survive because she believes that she will.

Another thread. A group of ponies are stuck in an inn on the way to a large city. A thunderstorm rages outside. They can do nothing but drink hot cider and laugh at the stories they share. They come from many backgrounds. One is a page in the Canterlot Royal Court. One is an ex-member of a pegasus flying team, fired for illegal gambling. Another is a son, running away from home, now two years on the road. Another is Twilight Sparkle's father.

Endless possibilities. The fabric of infinity, pulled over vast plains of existence, extending over a horizon that goes on forever.

I opened myself fully, becoming one with the pattern.

Becoming eternity.

I now stand in the outer place. The nowhere place. I hold this tiny world in the palm of my hand. I can feel it, like a little heartbeat. It shines, like a little flame. It spins, slowly, through my fingers.

This world.

This fragile world with its strange and beautiful creatures.

This is not my world.

This world was not mine to create. It is not mine to destroy.

I can see more hands in the nothing place. They beckon and call for the world in my fingers. Some of them wish destruction. Some of them wish joy. Only one of them is the hand that created it. I can only hope that is the hand that will hold this world next.

I cast it out. It floats through the ether of existence, free for the moment, until it finds rest in another's hand.

But I don't let the world go without a last story.

Without a farewell.


	12. Epilogue

Twilight groaned as she walked inside the library. Her hooves throbbed and she had a headache, but she felt satisfied, overall. She went to the coat rack next to the door and dumped her bags at its base. She stopped before she walked away and went back, taking time to reorganize it. She removed the contents of the bag and set them on the table in a stack, organized by importance and fragility. She set the bag neatly hanging on a rung, making sure there were no creases or stresses in the fabric.

"Perfect!" She said. Her headache had lessened. She turned around to check on the bag's contents. On top was the annotated map to the Everfree Library, updated by her to include alterations in the terrain. Next to that was her formal letter of acquisition to both the Town Council and a copy for the Princess herself. Next to that was a scroll containing her proposed plan of action, annotated to include budgetary estimations. Under the scrolls was the old book she had used to help locate the library in the first place and under that was the ledger for land transactions in the last hundred years that she used to determine who owned what divisions of land within the Everfree Forest.

Spike sat on a pile of pillows and blankets in the corner of the room. He was slowly munching on the bud of a dandelion with a twisted look on his face.

"Good afternoon, Spike!" Twilight said. She was cheerful, but her voice was hoarse from hours of debate and deliberating.

"Hey Twilight." Spike said, muffled. He chewed again, more slowly. He held up the stem and threw it under the nearest table. When Twilight wasn't looking, he leaned over and spat the remains of the bud under the pile of blankets. "Dandelions are just _gross_. I can't believe you guys actually _eat_ this stuff."

"They're full of nutrients! Essential for the diet of any foal! They can't be _that_ bad."

"Well, Pinkie Pie agrees with me."

"Pinkie won't eat anything unless it's been wrapped in cotton candy, first. And I'm not exaggerating. She told me that herself. While eating a..." Twilight sighed. "While eating a stick of celery wrapped in cotton candy."

"Sounds to me like she's got good taste!" Spike said. He spun in his seat and laid upside-down. He stretched and moaned comfortably.

"So what did you do today? Twilight asked.

"Nnnnnnnnnnnnnothing!" Spike said, comfortably. He said it as if it was an accomplishment.

"I can see that," Twilight said.

"So how did the meeting go?"

"Very well! If we can get a commission from the Princess and the Canterlot Board of Property Tenure, then we can start an expedition by as early as next month!"

"You know Celestia loves you," Spike said, waving his hand dismissively. "You'll get the funding,easy."

"I hope you're right."

"You _know_ I'm right."

"...Okay, yes. But it's not healthy to count on the generosity of others. That should always be seen as something extra."

"I still can't belive you wandered off into the Everfree Forest _alone_. That's not like you, Twi. I'd have come with you if you'd asked."

"I guess you're right, but you know how I get when books are involved." She said. However, this wasn't the whole truth. There was a strange blur over her entire trip into the forest. She remembered the library, she remembered the trip there, but she honestly couldn't remember _why_ she had even gone. The entire trip felt of dream logic, something that made sense at the time but only seems strange when looking back.

Bringing up generosity, she remembered what was left in her bag. She went over to the coatrack and pulled a long cut of yellow fabric. She set it on the table and looked at it, eyebrow raised.

"Rarity gave me a roll of fabric today. She said it would look good on me. Well...said it would look 'marvelous.' But I can't even sew? What on earth am I go to do with this?"

Twilight looked up to see that Spike was gone from his pile of blankets. Instead, he was now standing next to her on the tips of his toes, gripping the table and looking intently at the fabric.

"This is from...Rarity?"

"Uh...Yes?"

"So...you don't need it?" He ran a finger down the cloth.

"Uh...No?"

"Mind...if I have it?"

"Uh...Sure."

Spike quickly snatched the fabric from the table and ran over to his pile. Leaping onto it, he wrapped the fabric around him like a blanket and curled up into a little ball.

Twilight laughed to herself. She saw two more books sitting on the table. The first she saw was her copy of _Times of Our Lives_. Something was off with the cover. She slid it closer and inspected it.

"Spike?" She said. "Wasn't there a ruby on this cover?"

Spike paused, his head under the makeshift blanket. "...No."

"I'm pretty sure there was."

"...I don't remember."

"...Are you sure?"

"It's an old book, okay! Maybe it fell off somewhere! Want me to look!"

"No, it's fine. It doesn't matter." Twilight was too tired to make a deal of this now. She rolled her eyes and slid the book across the table. She pulled the second one closer to her and looked at the cover. She found, to her deep surprise, that it was one she didn't recognize.

"Spike?" She asked. "Where did this book come from? Did we have a donation today?"

"No, I've been here. Nopony came by."

Twilight looked at the title. _The Melody of Souls_. It was written with a simple, but bold font, kerned almost perfectly within the bindings of the cover. Her eyes drifted down to the author. _'Will Hemlepp._'

"Do we have a section on the author 'Will Hemlepp?'"

"Never heard _that_ name," Spike said, sitting up. "That's a weird name for a pony."

"Then...where did this come from?"

"Beats me."

She frowned and flipped open the cover. One the inside was a dedication.

'_To a friend.'_

She closed the cover and studied it, trying as hard as she possibly could to remember why this book was so familiar to her.

_Wait,_ she thought. _This is a _book_. What am I doing thinking about it when I could be doing the obvious?_

She levitated the book beside her and trotted to the stairs.

"I'll be having another reading day, Spike. Make sure no one bothers me unless it's important, okay?"

"Will do." Spike said, sticking a thumbs-up from the pile of blankets.

Twilight jumped onto her bed and wrapped herself in a blanket. Lighting the lantern on her nightstand, she opened the book to page one, preparing to get lost in a good story.


End file.
